The Path of Heaven
by The Oracle
Summary: My sequel to Brotherhood of The Seed. Logia has returned, with a new name, new weapons, and a new outlook, just in time to confront another face from his past, involving others from the LBT world in the process. Be sure to read the previous story first.
1. Chapter 1

This is my sequel to "Brotherhood of The Seed". Be sure to read that first, if you haven't already…this will make much more sense if you do.

This story utilizes characters from The Land Before Time, Kamen Rider Kabuto, Kamen Rider 555, and little bits of Chou Seishin Gransazer. I do not own the rights to any of these characters, nor is it my intention to profit from them.

Enjoy!

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Through the infinite stars and nebula of the universe, the ship of the Neo-Spirit coasted along. It had been quite some time now, since the day it had departed earth, with what remained of a former high-ranking commander among the Impactor race.

Deep within the ship, The glowing form of the Neo-Spirit herself, looked on into the tank where the former Impactor had been slowly regaining his old Earthbound form for quite some time. She smiled lightly now that the process seemed to finally have completed.

"It's finished…" she spoke softly as she floated over the screen where she made her home. "Complete organic regeneration…it is time for you to awaken, my Tendou."

She addressed the young longneck formerly known as Logia by the new name she had given him. His eyes were still closed, deep in sleep as the oxygen mask remained in place over much of his mouth, the warm liquid of the tank surrounding his body as the control panels flickered to life on the base of it.

The Neo-Spirit looked on calmly as the buttons and levers began to push and pull themselves, the machines inside the tank whirring to life, interrupting the peacefulness within the liquid. The liquid itself began to drain around Tendou, his body slowly moving to the bottom of the tank as it all diminished to nothingness, his form laying motionless as the cable above him pulled away, removing his oxygen mask, and the tube that had been in his throat through all that time.

A Mild current then suddenly flashed through the bottom of the tank, causing Tendou's body to jerk upright as it re-animated him, making him cough and convulse visibly through the glass as he felt air entering his lungs for the first time in what had seemed like an eternity, his new heart thundering to life as it beat steadily under his ribcage.

He groaned and grunted loudly, crying out almost like a newborn, as the glass of the tank slowly descended around him, a large robotic arm reaching down and gently scooping him up, it being controlled by the Neo-Spirit as she looked on with an approving smile.

"Yes…" she spoke, as the arm lowered Tendou's body onto a warmed platform. "Feel the air in you once again…let it feed your heart, and nourish your repaired brain and nervous system…feel the warm embrace of life once more, Tendou…"

Tendou shivered as he slowly got a hold of his breath, too bewildered at the moment to even speak. His last memories had been of fighting as Logia, using the Orga gear, and the subsequent reconciliation with his mother, before the Orga Gear's power short-circuited his Impactor life-support, causing what he thought was his death.

The young Longneck shakily got onto all four of his new feet, the sensation familiar, yet unfamiliar all at once as he grunted, feeling quite a bit of stiffness in these limbs as a shower nozzle then slowly lowered from the ceiling, and stopped over his form. It then gently sprayed him with a showering of warm water.

Tendou jumped a little at first, but then sighed and lowered his head at the feel of the warm water washing over him, cleaning his body of all traces of the fluid that sustained and regenerated him in the tank. The Neo-Spirit watched on with an approving nod, as he slowly looked up to her, and spoke his first words through his new vocal cords.

"Tendou…" he said, softly, his voice now calm and masculine, with no traces of technology around it now. "Why do you call me that?" He tilted his head a little as the shower continued to clean his form.

"Because Logia is no longer a proper name for you." She simply responded. "You are not an Impactor anymore. By living that life and using that name, you had doomed yourself to the road to hell…but now, with my help, you will walk the path of heaven."

"Walking the path of heaven…" Tendou spoke softly as the shower finished its work on him, his body dripping wetly. He smiled a little. "I do like the sound of that, I have to say…" He then furrowed his brow a little as he thought to himself, before asking the Neo-Spirit, "But how do you plan on helping me?"

"Shhh…" She responded gently. "For now, rest, Tendou…" A comfortable looking bed rose from the floor, as warm air jets dried Tendou's body. "Your body needs that more than anything right now."

Tendou nodded slowly as he yawned, indeed feeling quite tired. The bed was nice and well padded as he climbed up into it, slowly getting used to his new limbs as he curled up slowly, and laid down.

"How do you feel?" The Neo-Spirit enquired.

"I feel…" Tendou spoke as he slowly drifted off to sleep. "…cleansed."

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Time passed from then on, and Tendou was taking the time to adjust to his new body, remembering what food and water tasted like, as well as learning about the new weapons the Neo-Spirit had developed.

Little did he know, however, that a piece of his past, his old self, was already on its way to Earth.

A sleek Impactor carrying craft, bearing the name of "The Harbinger", was slowly flying towards the solar system, taking its time as it coasted freely along the stars, and avoiding the occasional asteroid.

A few spare Giga fighters worked the controls of the ship, each of their single red eyes glowing, as a single Impactor warrior stood on the bridge of this craft. He was a prominent Lieutenant of the Impactor armies, who had taken this journey on his own accord.

Lieutenant Kevran stood silently, his arms crossed as his violet armor shone in the light, a slick black visor covering his optical circuits, a motionless metal mouth below it, showing no emotion as he walked slowly to one of the windows, his violet and black colored boots clanking gently as a gun cling to the side of his belt, along with what looked like a series of small, but menacing blade weapons.

"My friend…" he spoke slowly, a soft electronic gargle coming from his voice as he looked out towards the stars. He then thought to himself, "If only you knew of the betrayal of your memory, and your ideals taking place among your fellow Impactors, spinelessly agreeing with the Paxerians to stay away from the planet Earth…Because of your death, along with Lucia, Radia, and General Balcus, a whole planet of Impactors choose not to challenge the organics on this ruling."

He shook his head as he slowly walked away from the window, still thinking. "No one is willing to take a stand…but I shall." He then walked from the bridge and into a hallway, passing a few Giga fighters as he made his way to another room.

"I'm certain the high council will be angry with me once they've discovered I've defied their orders…" Kevran once again thought to himself, as he entered the small laboratory, walking over to a small robot that was making observations on a tank in one corner. "…But once they seen the fruit of my labor, I'm certain they'll be more than willing to forgive my crossing them."

He bent down just a little, in order to observe the bizarre greenish solution that was slowly being concocted from within the tank.

"I'll make them pay for what they did to you, my friend…Those primitive wads of slime on Earth won't know what hit them…"

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On the desert planet of Nubis III, the Neo-Spirit's ship slowly began to descend, blowing bits of sand all around its area as it gently began to set down on the alien surface. After taking some more time to learn about his new body and new weapons, Tendou had gotten wind of the lone Impactor craft that was making its way towards Earth. This planet was just a brief stop on the way there.

"Are you certain you want to put yourself through this, Tendou?" The Neo Spirit asked as he walked to the exit. "You do know this could put us further behind our target, right?"

The Teen longneck simply nodded as he made his way through the door, carrying something around his neck. "This is important to me. First, I need to test out your new weapon, and see how well I can use it…" He then looked up to the screen where the Neo-Spirit was watching. "Plus I think I need to confront my own demons, before taking on any others."

The Neo-Spirit looked on sympathetically. "Very well…If that's how you feel, then I shall no longer restrain you…exit when you're ready."

Tendou nodded again, as he took a deep breath. He then slowly headed towards the door, which opened up for him, leading to the planet's surface. He soon felt the heat from the sun on his skin as he descended onto the warm sand.

The longneck made the first footprints the planet probably had on its sand for quite some time, as he looked all around the oasis. After taking the moment to survey the scene, he waited until he was a good distance from the ship, and stopped walking.

He lowered his head, as the object wrapped around his neck slid all the way down to the base of his skull. With a quick jerk of his head, he tossed the belt-like object onto the sand, a good few feet away from him.

With that, he then yelled out to the object. "Activate simulation 976W, authorization Tendou 98325!"

The object suddenly lit up as he spoke the special password, a shaft of glowing light emanating around it as it slowly began to grow and take another form.

This simulation was a little something Tendou had been cooking up for a while. He looked on, preparing to face his created opponent, which finally solidified into its full form. Tendou watched as the figure of Logia, his old Impactor self, now stood before him.

Logia looked over his hands, surveying his black and silver armored form slowly, his gun at his side, before looking back over to Tendou and shaking his head slowly.

"You are such a fool…" Logia Spoke, his distorted, electronic voice sparking to life as it reverberated through the oasis. "Look at you…standing before me as your former self, a weak, common organic!" He placed a hand on his chest. "You would willingly turn against this? Against your power, and the beliefs that sustained you? Are you truly prepared to revolt against your true self."

"I am prepared, because you are NOT my true self!" Tendou shot back. "Because of you, my true self almost died! Almost taken completely by your venom, by the poison that the entire Impactor race fed to me. And now, today, I shall rid myself of this venom for good!"

An electronic chittering was now heard through the air, as the form of a small, metallic red beetle suddenly flew out of the Neo-Spirit's ship, and into view. Logia simply watched as the beetle buzzed around Tendou, zeroing in on a silver belt that he was wearing around his middle.

"Henshin!" Tendou yelled out, as the beetle finally flew to the middle of his belt on his underside, attaching itself to him as it clicked into place. A few buzzing and whirring sounds came from the belt, as a deep electronic voice called out "HENSHIN" from the belt.

Tendou's form changed right there, rising onto his hind legs as his forelegs changed into arms, his humanoid body slowly covering itself in a heavy silver armor, with traces of red and black underneath, as a mask with a blue visor encircled his face and head.

Logia looked on with interest as Tendou's armored body, clicked into place and hissed to life. He was now in the default "masked" form of the new weapon the Neo Spirit had created, the armored fighter known as "Kabuto".

"Impressive toys you have…" Logia mused as he readied his holstered gun. "But that in itself does not insure victory!" With that he quickly spun, pulling his gun out of the holster and firing. Tendou quickly turned as his armored back took the brunt of this blast, letting it knock him forward a bit. He then spun back towards Logia, and whipped out his own weapon. It looked like a small axe, but it also had a gun's muzzle on the butt, as he pulled the hidden trigger on the other end and fired back.

Logia quickly spun once more, avoiding the blast from Tendou, as he counter-blasted him three times. Tendou responded by charging towards the impactor, grunting as he slashed his axe left and right, deflecting each of the blasts before finally reaching Logia and slashing him across the chest with the blade.

Logia grunted and gasped as the blade hit him so hard, raising his hand as Tendou tried to bring the weapon down on him again. He attempted to bring the gun up to Tendou's middle, as Tendou saw this and quickly grabbed Logia's gun hand, trying to draw it away from him. It was no use though, as Logia fired and clipped Tendou in the right side of his abdomen, and then brought up his other hand and gave him a glancing blow across his blue visor, finally kicking him away with his left foot.

Tendou grunted loudly as he fell to the sand, rolling away as Logia fired away with his gun once more, laughing a bit as Tendou simply rolled away from each shot on the sand.

"Look at you…" Logia growled. "Crawling about on the earth like a worm…You should have known that without your Impactor parts, that you were always a frail and easy kill." He fired again as Tendou now rolled back onto his feet, deflecting the blast with his right gauntlet as he breathed heavily.

"Oh, I assure you…" Tendou responded. "You're not even close to having me dead." With that he then quickly pulled the horn back on the beetle in the middle of his belt, stopping it halfway as a series of clicking and beeping noises emanated from his suit. The heavy silver armor that covered nearly all of him quickly detached itself partially, before Tendou finally called out "Cast off!" and pulled the horn all the way back.

Logia aimed his gun for another shot, before the voice in Tendou's belt called out "CAST OFF". Before Logia could fire, he suddenly saw pieces of the heavy armor suddenly launch out towards him, causing him to duck before a few pieces smacked him on the head, making him fall back.

Tendou simply stood as the Kabuto armor now took it's much more sleek and impressive "Stealth" form, his lighter armor now mostly red with some black highlights. His once unified blue visor was now being separated by a long red horn that was hidden in his masked form. It clicked into place on his helmet as his blue eyes glowed, the voice speaking once more as it said "CHANGE BEETLE".

Logia slowly got back onto his feet, as he suddenly saw Tendou rushing right towards him now, letting loose with a flurry of punches and kicks. Logia quickly countered a few of these moves, holstering his gun as he punched for Tendou's head, only to have him quickly weave out of the way. He then tried to kick Tendou's side, as Tendou simply sidestepped him and turned, giving the Impactor a hard elbow in the back.

The Impactor grunted as he fell and rolled back onto his feet once again, readying his blaster. Tendou reached into his belt, and pulled out a sleek dagger that was now waiting for him in his present form. He quickly dodged all of Logia's shots, before Logia lost his patience and withdrew the blades that resided in his wrists. He ran in and slashed each one at Tendou, who skillfully evaded all of these swipes, and with a single upward swing, gave Logia a deep cut on the right side of his grilled visor.

Logia grunted out in frustration as pieces of his visor fell off in the process, all the wires exposed as his vision was now slightly impaired. He then launched himself at Tendou, grabbing him by the arm and yelling out as he threw him over to a collection of rocks lodged in the sand. He then blindly fired away, as Tendou leapt to avoid each of these shots, trying to dive behind a few boulders as Logia used all the energy in his gun to send an extremely powerful blast towards the area.

An explosion rocked the oasis as he fired, seeming to hit Tendou as it also crashed into the boulders, obliterating them in seconds as pieces began to rain down from the aftermath of the blast.

Logia stood for a moment, satisfied now, as he began to walk away…before he turned around once more, suddenly sensing that the blast didn't do it's job.

He turned just in time to see Tendou calmly rising from the area where Logia had thought he had killed him, walking slowly towards his opponent.

"Why…" Logia breathed harder as he clenched his fists. "Why can't I kill you?" He screamed.

Tendou offered him no answer as he ran in once more, yelling out in a rage as Tendou quickly avoided his attempt at a punch, grabbing his arm and bringing up one of his powerful feet, kicking the Impcator off to the side as he fell and rolled onto his knees in the sand.

With that, he turned slightly, and quickly pressed three buttons that were now above the beetle on his belt, the computer speaking "1, 2, 3" as he pressed each one. He then pulled the beetle's horn back to its forward position, and calmly spoke "Rider kick." He pulled the horn back to the other side as the beetle itself began to spark, the computer proclaiming "RIDER KICK".

Tendou simply stood in his place, not moving as Logia got back onto his feet. He ran in, trying once more to take out Tendou from behind, as blue energy carried itself from the middle of Tendou's belt, right up to the very tip of his horn.

Just as Logia moved in for the kill, Tendou suddenly turned, bringing up his right foot as it glowed with the same energy. In a split second, he caught the impactor with hard, and impressive crescent kick, the impact making Logia explode almost instantly.

A great blue-green fireball engulfed the area around Tendou as his simulated opponent was finally destroyed, his demons finally conquered, in his own mind that was, as a whining noise was heard after the fireball, the result of his own weaponry powering down. As the smoke slowly cleared with the sand from the explosion, Tendou returned to his standing position once more, and gave a gesture. He placed his left hand just above his belt, and slowly raised his right arm above his head, his index finger pointing towards the sky…towards heaven…

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On The Harbinger, Kevran Slowly paced along the bridge, slowly seeing the planets of the Earth's solar system come into view.

But this was not on the Impactor's mind at the moment, as he was slowly pouring some of the same bizarre solution from before into a small container, with what looked like a needle at the end of it.

"Soon, my friend…" Kevran spoke softly to himself. "Soon you shall be avenged…the seed left behind by your simple existence is now ready to be spread."

With that, he placed the tiny container into his gun, and cocked it into place…


	2. The Search

Littlefoot walked out into the morning light. The teen longneck was a bit older now, but still as bright-eyed as he was as a child. He strolled slowly over to where his mother had been resting, still scarcely able to believe that she was back in his life after all this time.

Ayla's form shifted a little as she lay next to the nest she had built. Littlefoot smiled as he peered into it once more, to look at the collection of eggs in it. Since they were re-united, she and Bron had long discussed the possibility of having more children, and the chance to start over as a family unit. Now it looked like it was about to happen.

Littlefoot and Shorty were a bit bewildered at this idea at first, but slowly grew more comfortable with it. Littlefoot especially became fond of the idea of having younger brothers and sisters around. He felt the need to be around a whole new family, ever since his Grandfather passed away some time ago, peacefully. It would also prepare him more quickly for becoming a parent himself. That was, if he could convince Ali to go along with it.

Littlefoot looked out towards the walls of the Valley. Ali had left some time ago, in order to travel with her mother, helping to look after old friends from the migrating herd who had fallen ill. He knew, however, that she returned his fondness for her, and thus was confident that she'd return to the valley one day to be with him.

He then turned his head back to his mother as she had awakened slowly, and was watching him gaze off towards the valley's outskirts.

"She's still on your mind?" She asked with a slight smile.

"What? Who?" Littlefoot blushed a little as he yawned. "I'm still waking up, that's all."

Ayla laughed a little. She saw right through him at that moment. "You know…once the children are born, your father could always take you out to find her, and the herd."

Littlefoot cocked his eyebrow a little towards her. "That'd be a little dangerous though…just the two of us, outside of the valley."

Ayla just smiled in response. "I have every bit of faith in your father when it comes to keeping you and Shorty safe. And you two…you pretty much saved the world by yourselves, remember."

Littlefoot just sighed and shook his head. "But I don't have my powers anymore, and neither does Shorty. There's not much we'd be able to do now if we were in trouble."

"What are you talking about?" Ayla seemed surprised as she answered her son. "You've told me the story. The Story about what you and all of your friends did to get to this valley, and all the other times you've been separated from your families…that sounds pretty strong and heroic to me, and you didn't have your powers in those days."

"She's got a point, you know…" Shorty spoke as he slowly walked onto the scene, overhearing the conversation. "I've heard about some of the stuff you did before we met…quite frankly it makes even me a little jealous." He grinned softly.

Littlefoot chuckled a bit and nodded to his adopted brother, before finally seeing his father walk up next to his mother. "Hey Dad!"

"Good morning everyone." Bron smiled as he gave his mother a quick nuzzle.

Ayla sighed softly as she returned the cuddle from her husband, before looking up at him quizzically. "Where have you been?"

"Well, I was just out in the fields, taking some more time to remember my father…and I was also over at flyer rock for a little bit." Bron responded in a matter-of-fact way.

"What were you doing all the way over there?" Ayla giggled.

Bron furrowed his brow. "Oh…I thought you'd have heard it by now…Pterano's back from his exile."

"Petrie's uncle?" Littlefoot suddenly spoke up, a surprised look coming over his eyes.

"That's right." Bron nodded with a smile. "And from what you've told me, it looks like he's learned quite a bit from the experience…something about him just doesn't seem quite as…arrogant as he did before."

Littlefoot nodded slowly, before looking back up to his father. "Is he still over there now? It's been quite a while since I've last seen him."

"Yeah, I think so." Bron nodded back gently, looking off in the direction of flyer rock. "From the sound of things, he intends to stay around here for quite a while."

Littlefoot looked off in the distance and well, their last meeting going through his mind, the "stone of cold fire" and the ensuing conflict with his now former partners, Rinkus and Sierra. "I'm gonna see if I can talk to him for just a minute…let him know for sure there are no hard feelings between us."

His parents both looked at him, both approvingly and sympathetically, as he began to walk off, before being quickly joined by Shorty. "I'm coming too…this Pterano sounds like an interesting fellow. I wouldn't pass up an opportunity to finally meet him, face to face."

Littlefoot smiled just a little as he walked, allowing Shorty to catch up as he traveled.

Meanwhile, at Flyer Rock, Petrie's mother beamed on happily as her son had just returned from his morning flight, surprised to find his beloved uncle waiting for him. She watched as the two hugged each other happily in full view.

"Uncle!" Petrie happily exclaimed.

"Good to see you…good to see you child…" Pterano smiled as he hugged gently, then slowly pulled back to look his nephew over. "Wait, I shouldn't be calling you that anymore, you're not a child…you've grown…quite considerably since I last laid eyes on you."

Petrie smiled and nodded as he flexed his now larger wings. Indeed he was no longer the wiry, awkward youngster that had existed all that time before. The teenaged flyer had now blossomed, fairly early, and fairly well, into a strong, and capable flyer, his voice also sounding more confident.

"Thank you, Uncle." He smiled as he bowed slightly to Pterano. "I've heard others say that in recent times, but coming from you, that sentiment means a lot to me."

Pterano beamed along with Petrie's mother now, as he slowly nodded and approached his nephew once more. "Well, now that we're done observing all of our changes…come, show me all that has been going on in the valley…I've gotten wind of some…rather extraordinary events that have recently taken place here."

Petrie just chuckled a little and nodded, ready to think of a good place to start with this story, before he heard another voice speak up from below.

"Please…don't leave just yet. Not until we've had our chance to say hello."

Pterano quickly looked down, seeing the familiar face of a certain young longneck watching him with a smile. He returned the smile with his own, as he quickly flew down with Petrie to meet him.

"My my…is that you, Littlefoot?" Pterano chuckled as Littlefoot smiled and nodded in response. "Well…not quite so little feet anymore though, eh?"

Littlefoot chuckled just a little as Shorty laughed lightly and spoke up. "Hey, he seems pretty friendly after all."

"Who might this be?" Pterano furrowed his brow as he looked to Shorty, still smiling though.

"Oh, Sorry!" Littlefoot smiled, forgetting to introduce him. "This is Shorty, Pterano. He's my brother."

Pterano laughed a little again. "Your brother?…you didn't have one before…"

"Well, we're not blood brothers…but we feel like brothers, and that's good enough for me and him." Shorty grinned.

Pterano nodded slowly with a smile. "I see…oh, by the way Littlefoot, I heard about your grandfather's passing…my condolences."

"Thank you." Littlefoot simply responded.

Petrie patted Littlefoot softly on the back supportively as Pterano sighed softly. "He was good fellow, your grandfather…a very wise, and just elder of this valley, that even I learned to appreciate in time….I hope you start working to carry on his wonderful bloodline soon."

The young longneck once again just nodded, as Pterano casually plucked a small cherry from a tree, and bit into it. "So forgive my curiosity…" he spoke as he munched on the fruit. "…But do you have your eye on anyone currently…any females."

Littlefoot blushed as he heard this. "Pardon me Pterano…but I don't really think that's any of your conce-"

"Yeah. He's got a big crush on this girl named Ali." Shorty grinned as he spoke up suddenly.

"Shorty!" Littlefoot shot him a firm look.

"What?" Shorty shrugged, defensively. "Try a little openness with your feelings for a change. It just might do you some good."

Pterano hmm'd to himself as he ate the last of the cherry. "Ali…Ali…" his eyes lit up suddenly. "Does this Ali go around with a peculiar herd of longnecks? One that's always traveling around from place to place?"

Littlefoot nodded quickly as Pterano said this. "You know them?"

"I met them a few times in passing during my travels." Pterano nodded. " I even helped guide them all through an extremely dense fog on one occasion, so I think I may have become a sort of outside friend to them."

The teen longneck smiled a bit and nodded, thinking this fact over for a moment…before an idea suddenly crossed his mind. "Say…do you think maybe you could locate them again?"

"Littlefoot…" Petrie spoke up, surprised. "My uncle just got here, and he probably wants to relax after all this time…don't send him on any errands."

"It's all right, Petrie…" Pterano smiled as he put up one of his hands. "I don't need that much rest. I'm not elderly yet, you know…" He patted his nephew on the back as he approached Littlefoot more closely. "Did you want me to deliver a message to your Ali?" He smiled softly.

"Yeah…" Littlefoot smiled, no longer minding that it was out in the open now. "Tell her I still love her, I miss her, and I hope to see her again…oh!" He leaned down and grasped a nearby flower in his teeth, pulling it up out of the ground and giving it to Pterano. "Give this to her as well…she likes these." He blushed just a little.

Pterano nodded with a smile "Very well…" He then looked over to his nephew. "Petrie…would you like to travel with me for this?" Petrie's eyes lighted up as he heard this proposal from his uncle. Before he could answer, though, his mother suddenly chimed in.

"Pterano…" She spoke, a look of real concern in her eyes. "Are you really sure that's wise? Petrie's still young, and he's not as experienced outside the valley as you." Petrie gave her a kind of "Aw Mom…" look as he awaited his uncle's reaction.

"Don't worry…" Pterano responded. "You know how cautious I am now…I'm not going to let anything happen to your son…besides, I think he's old enough now that he needs to get out and have a little adventure…get his wings a little dirty."

Petrie nodded happily, echoing his uncle's sentiments as he looked on to his mother. She mulled it over a moment, still not completely sure…but Pterano's charisma eventually won her over. "Well…I suppose."

"All right!" Petrie smiled as he brushed past Littlefoot and Shorty, looking back at his uncle. "What are we waiting for then? It's not like the herd is gonna stand still for us."

Pterano smiled to his eager nephew, before turning and giving his mother a re-assuring smile and nods. "We'll be back as soon as possible, I promise."

She simply nodded and gave a soft smile, as Pterano waved to the two longnecks, and ran towards his nephew, extending his wings. "Ok Petrie…last time I saw the herd, they were headed west of this valley, so let's check that direction first."

Petrie nodded quickly as he then took to the sky, joining his uncle. The two flyers swiftly made their way to the sky, and vanished over the mountains, heading west.

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Deep within the bowels of the area called the Mysterious Beyond, the Harbinger set down slowly, finally completing its long trek from the Impactor home world, to the planet Earth. Smaller creatures scattered quickly as it blew past a few dead trees, and steadily fired its lower thrusters, finding a suitable landing spot in a clearing.

The ground smoked from the scorching thrusters as the ship touched down, powering off the engines slowly as they whined softly. A door slowly opened, pieces of it tumbling out gently to the ground, creating a stairway. The figure of the lone Impactor stepped out of the shadows, as he looked to his right and left, before descending, with a couple of giga fighters.

"So this is the world where my friends collectively met their downfall." Kevran thought to himself, surveying the scene. "While I'm shocked to see that such a primitive wasteland could so easily get the better of them all…this place does have an odd sense foreboding to it, quite unlike any other pre-industrial world."

He stepped onto the ground slowly, looking down at the sparse grass, and withering plant life, as he held his gun at his side now, ready to take on anything that dare come at him. He then looked up at the sunlight, feeling its heat on his helmet, his precise optical circuits analyzing the UV levels.

Suddenly, he sensed something coming in from above him…something big.

He turned and quickly stepped out of the way, as the head of a ferocious T-rex leaned down and grasped a giga fighter in its jaws. It growled as he watched it come back up, trying to eat the smaller robot as it struggled and kicked. Sparks flew and metal crunched as the beast chewed on it, before getting a not so nice taste of battery fluid, and promptly spitting it out, roaring angrily.

"My, my…" Kevran mused as he observed this. "So there ARE some impressive species that populate this planet after all." He checked his gun as the T-rex roared again, turning its attentions to him and the other Giga fighter. "Those arms are terribly short…but we can always do something about that, now can't we?"

The T-rex roared out and lunged towards Kevran, before he suddenly held out the gun with his right hand, and fired. The same device he placed into the chamber before, quickly shot out, and lodged itself right between the eyes of the T-rex, the sharp needle penetrating its thick skin. Automatically, the device activated, injecting the odd green solution into the creature.

Kevran observed silently as the T-rex pulled back, feeling the effects of this solution immediately. It jerked and roared out as it stood on its feet, doing its best to clutch its own head as something was taking a hold of its brain, and moving downward, spreading out from its spine.

The beast then convulsed slightly, then stood perfectly still…its once red eyes now had a green coloration to them, as it placidly looked down towards Kevran…as if it were awaiting commands from an officer.

"Very good…" Kevran nodded as he watched the T-rex closely, before addressing it. "You have become the first lucky recipient of a new compound I have concocted, inspired by the existence of the great commander Logia. I call it 'Symbiosis', and you have just gone through phase one of its process."

He circled the T-rex slowly as he continued to speak. "Your mind has already changed, and made you receptive to the orders of myself and other Impactors you may encounter in the future…but in time your form will change as well, into one that's far more suited for intergalactic travel, but still possessing the same brute strength you have now."

The T-rex made no reaction, as Kevran stood right in front of it now. "At this moment, I am concocting more of this strain, that I intend to use on other creatures such as yourself. For now, your orders are simply to stand guard as I work inside of my ship, and to not let anything, and I mean ANYTHING, come even close to us."

Kevran walked back towards his ship as the T-rex obeyed, and stood guard. It sounded like an absurd order in a world without any opponents on his level, but he realized that the very reason Logia and the others fell on this world was because they underestimated its inhabitants. So, even without any Paxerians around, he was not about to take any chances at this point.

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Further away from this site, at another clearing, the ship of The Neo-Spirit appeared from the heavens, gently setting itself down with much calmer thrusters, the creatures around it still scattering, but not in such a frantic manner as with the other ship.

The door pulled upward, opening smoothly as Tendou stepped slowly onto the earth below him. It felt so odd…stepping on it with organic feet, instead of the cold boots of his former Impcator self. He took a moment to feel all the grass under him as his tail swished, closing his eyes.

"Remember Tendou…" he thought to himself in this state of calm. "…This is what you're fighting for now. You've conquered your demons, so now it's time to fight off the ones who want to harm your homeland."

He then opened his eyes as he heard the Neo-Spirit's voice call to him from outside. "Do you think you'll take any time to meet your family?"

Tendou sighed as he thought this over. "I came here to do a job…one with a scope that's probably far greater than that of my own family, and my own selfish interests…besides, part of me thinks it's better they believe that I'm dead."

The Neo-Spirit spoke up once more as Tendou began to leave the scene. "Do you intend to go the rest of your new life as someone without a family? Without someone to come home to and lean on?"

"I have you, don't I?" He looked back to her with a smile.

"A computer is no replacement for what you need, Tendou…" She spoke as he walked away. "Even with a nobler purpose, you can't go on relying on technology to sustain you…I hope you'll realize that before the end…"


	3. Tragic Turn

Out in the skies of the Mysterious beyond, Petrie and Pterano were gliding smoothly through the air, the sky mostly clear at this point so they had little trouble surveying the whole area, still heading off to the west.

"Are you sure they went this way?" Petrie enquired as he flew a bit lower with his Uncle, getting a better look at the earth below them. "I haven't seen any longneck tracks since we headed out this way…"

Pterano continued to furrow his brow as he flew lower with Petrie. "I could have sworn I saw them heading in this direction last time…"

Petrie chuckled as he looked over to his uncle. "Loss of direction…maybe you are getting old…"

"Quiet, you…" Pterano grinned as he shot back. "I'm still young enough to fly faster than you…" He then quickly shot back up into the sky.

"You want a race, old dino?" Petrie grinned, before taking off after him.

The two flyers raced each other quickly, circling, but still going in the same direction as before. Indeed, Pterano proved that he had quite a bit of youth left in him, keeping a good lead over his nephew. Even when Petrie managed to gain the lead a few times, he'd snatch it back when he'd least expect it.

They were lost in the fun they were having with their race, taking a time out to go sit on a rock nearby, both of them laughing as they settled down.

Petrie still laughed, as Pterano suddenly smelled something. He sniffed the air a little as he looked south now, a suspicious look coming over his face slowly.

"What?…" Petrie stopped laughing as he watched his Uncle. "What is it?"

Pterano just put up a hand as he spoke. "Do you smell that?"

Petrie sniffed the air a little, and then nodded. "Yeah…like something's been burning."

"But I don't see any smoke coming from this area…do you?" Pterano asked, looking back at Petrie as they sat.

Petrie shook his head slowly. "No…what do you think that means?"

"I don't know…" Pterano rose slowly after a moment. "But to me, it's all worth investigating." He took off again as Petrie still sat on the rock, contemplating whether this was a good idea or not. But he then took off after him regardless, not wanting to lose him.

The two flew along over the trees as they searched for the clearing where the smell was coming from. For a while, Petrie just thought the whole thing was pointless, and was about to tell his uncle that it was time to get back on course with their original plan.

That was, until Pterano suddenly spotted something, and swooped down without saying a word. Petrie just blinked, and glided for a few moments, before following him to see what he had discovered that was worth suddenly going down like that. He dove down into the same patch of trees that his Uncle went into, carefully avoiding the branches.

It was there that he saw Pterano, carefully perched on one of these branches. He then quickly flew over and parked himself right next to the older Flyer.

"What are we looking at?" Petrie enquired.

Pterano quickly shushed him, and pointed a wing down towards a clearing…the same one where the Harbinger was currently sitting.

"Hey…" Petrie's eyes widened as he got a real good look at the craft. "I've seen something like that before."

"Word travels quickly among the other flyers out here…" Pterano nodded slowly as he watched the door open to the craft. He then saw two Giga fighters walk out, surveying the scene.

"Wait a minute…" Petrie gasped as he saw them emerge. "I remember those things too…they're giga fighters!"

Pterano tilted his head just a little. "Giga fighters?"

Petrie nodded quickly. "They're special weapons used by…the Impactors."

"Now those fellows I heard about." Pterano responded with wide eyes. He observed them with a curious glare. "What do you think they're doing back here? I heard the ones here before were all defeated. I'd think that'd be enough to keep them away."

Petrie shook his head. "I don't know…but something tells me we ought to abort what were doing right now, and warn everyone in the Valley."

"Good thinking, Petrie." Pterano began to turn in the other direction. "We should ge-"

He was suddenly interrupted by the vicious roar of Kevran's T-Rex, who had been standing right behind them for the last few seconds, its green eye fixed on them as it quickly opened its jaws and lunged for the older flyer.

"Uncle, look out!" Petrie screamed, as he flew right towards his uncle. He was too late though, as the T-rex grabbed Pterano's entire right side in its jaws, crunching into his bones slightly as Pterano yelled out in pain, screeching.

"Noooo!" Petrie yelled as he flew up and grabbed part of the T-rex's nose in his sharp talons, cutting through the monster's flesh. The T-rex shook its head and growled out in frustration, before finally letting go of Pterano, who finally fell through the trees, and crashed onto the earth in a heap, not moving.

"You're gonna pay!" Petrie screamed frantically as he gripped tightly with his talons. "You're gonna pay!" The T-rex roared out in pain as blood began to come out of the spot on its nose that Petrie hooked onto. The beast then finally managed to shake its head downwards, making the young flyer's head strike a large branch very hard. Petrie grunted as the sharp splinters of wood cut inot parts of his face, before the T-rex finally threw him off forcefully, making him fly downward before striking the trunk of another tree very hard.

The Beast moved in to make sure Petrie stayed down, before something came out form its left, and struck it across the face...it was the red beetle, which quickly flew back towards Tendou, who arrived just a moment before.

"I see now…" Tendou looked towards the Harbinger, as the beetle flew around him, before looking back up at the T-rex. "I see everything…and you had to try and kill the other ones that saw too…well…try and kill me too, if you dare." The beetle then clicked onto the middle of Tendou's new belt once more. "Henshin…"

"HENSHIN!" The Computer's voice echoed through the air, as Tendou once more changed into Kabuto, the heavy silver armor of his masked form snapping into place as his body changed shape to accept it all.

The T-Rex Roared and walked towards Tendou, as he simply responded by taking out his gunaxe and firing. The blasts hit the beast right in its big mouth as it yelped and stumbled back, allowing Tendou to run over and check on the downed Pterano.

"He's ok…just injured." Tendou thought to himself, as he checked the Flyer's pulse, and looked over his injured right side, including his partially torn wing. "He's gonna need help to get somewhere safe though."

He then looked over to Petrie, who was beginning to stir, as he saw The T-rex lunging for him again. He ran towards the younger Longneck and fired his gunaxe a few more times, keeping the lumbering brute at bay, as Petrie slowly got to his feet.

Something seemed wrong with Petrie though…his brain was a bit…scrambled. He looked towards Pterano's unmoving body, and still believed him to be dead.

"I can't handle this…" Petrie almost sobbed as he stumbled a bit. "I've failed…I've failed…" With that, he quickly took off, flying away from the scene…and far away from the valley as well.

"Hey! Wait!" Tendou yelled to him as he motioned back to Pterano. "He's hurt! I need your help!" Petrie didn't hear any of it though, still too caught up in his own grief to listen.

He then heard the T-Rex lunging at him from behind. He turned, and quickly slashed the blade on his gunaxe cutting into part of the creature's mouth. The T-Rex bellowed out in pain as it shook off the wound. It then growled, and quickly moved in for another bite.

"Wait!" A distorted voice suddenly called out.

The T-Rex then slowly pulled back, as Tendou turned off to his right. He saw a familiar face, as Kevran walked onto the scene, his right hand held up towards the T-Rex. "I want to have a word with this one before you eat him…"

"Kevran…" Tendou spoke, genuine shock coming from his voice now.

Kevran stopped in his track, and gave Tendou a curious look through his helmet. "I'm sorry, but am I supposed to know you from somewhere?"

Tendou held his gunaxe off to the side as he faced down Kevran. "Oh, my appearance has changed, Lieutenant…but I hardly forget the only other Impactor besides Lucia who shared in my secret…"

Kevran just looked dead ahead at Tendou, then slowly shook his head. "No…it can't be…you can't be Commander Logia…he's dead."

"Believe what you want to, Kevran…" Tendou responded, as he pulled back on the beetle's horn on his belt. "But I intend to stop whatever it is you're scheming, right here and now." The silver armor partially detached itself as he spoke "Cast off!" and pulled the horn back to its forward position.

"CAST OFF!"

Both Kevran and the T-Rex jumped back as the pieces of his heavy armor shot off of his body, leaving behind his sleek, red-armored self as the horn clicked itself onto the middle of his helmet.

"CHANGE BEETLE"

Kevran grunted and held out his right arm, firing a blaster that resided in his wrist. Tendou quickly moved to the right, dodging the blast as he swiftly pulled out his dagger, running towards the Impactor. Kevran fired a few more times as Tendou swiped his dagger around, deflecting each blast as Kevran rolled out of the way, avoiding the slash of Tendou's dagger.

Kevran then reached into his belt, and pulled out two daggers of his own, bringing them up and catching Tendou's blade in between them as the weapons clashed, sparks flying as Tendou grunted, trying to find an opening.

"It's no use, Kevran!" Tendou grunted again. "You can't terrorize this planet by yourself…"

"Oh, I don't intend to…" Kevran shot back as he held his ground. "In fact, you're about to see phase 2 of my new bio-weapon take hold, in 3…2…1…"

Tendou just kept his focus on Kevran, before he suddenly heard some distressed roaring. He quickly turned to find a green glow encircling the T-Rex's body, as it jerked and convulsed. The glow grew brighter as its body crackled and began to shrink down, its arms and legs becoming more humanoid in shape, as its head and tail changed to accommodate the new body.

Kevran was able to roll away from Tendou, who just looked on at the T-Rex, which had a new, humanoid body, with metallic parts popping up on certain spots, and limbs, just like an Impactor.

Tendou just looked on, stunned, as the transformed T-Rex roared out and growled, flexing its new, muscular arms.

"You like it?" Kevran mused as he walked up next to the creature. "They're a perfect blend of Dinosaur DNA, and Impactor technology…I call them Dinopactors! And there are going to be plenty more where this big boy came from, believe me."

Tendou just shook his head, unable to think of any way to respond to such a plan. Kevran then looked to his creation, and motioned with his head towards Tendou. The new Dinopactor roared out and charged at him with amazing speed, running on its powerful humanoid legs as it reached out with a big arm to clothesline Tendou.

Tendou ducked, and tried to kick the monster out of the way, but couldn't even get it to move. The Dinopactor then growled and brought up its left arm, backhanding Tendou as he went flying, and landed right on the ground, next to the injured Pterano.

"I can't stay out here much longer…" He thought to himself. "This guy needs help." He then got up and quickly spoke into a communicator on his wrist. "Send the jet streamer, I've got an emergency transport!"

Within moments, a vehicle came down from the sky, making Kevran, and his creature back away. It was shaped almost like a small missle, but it had a seat, controls in the center, and had legs on the back end. It roared down towards Tendou as he picked up the injured Flyer, and hopped onto it, blasting off as he left the scene.

"Pity…" Kevran sighed as he began to leave the scene. "I was hoping to break you in a little more…" He looked to his new Dinopactor as he said this, the large Humanoid T-Rex growling a little as it walked off as well, following its master.

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Tendou breathed slightly in trepidation, still in his Kabuto armor as he flew into the Valley, right towards Flyer rock.

Petrie's mother was quietly observing some of the scene, before the form of Tendou carrying in her wounded family member surprised her.

"Oh no! Pterano!" She cried out, running towards his downed body.

"He'll be ok…" Tendou spoke softly. "He just needs some water, rest, and time to heal."

She looked up at him, obviously knowing about the other armored fighters before Tendou's, so she wasn't completely shocked. "Who are you?"

Tendou looked down for just a moment, before simply replying. "Just a lost spirit…"

He got up and walked away, before She called out to him again. "Wait! Where's Petrie?"

"Don't worry…" He looked back to her before walking away once more. "I'll find him."

She just nodded softly, before looking back at Pterano's injured form. She found him a nice smooth rock to lie against as she handled him carefully.

"What have you done this time…" She sighed mournfully, shaking her head…

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Petrie breathed unevenly as he examined himself, looking at a reflection of himself in a pond nearby. His face was slightly scarred now from the blows he had taken, one of his eyes a bit bloodshot as well, as his thought process was still rather scrambled.

"Why must they continue to torture us…" He spoke aloud, thinking of the T-Rex. "Why do the sharpteeth have to keep taking so much from us?…what did we ever do to them?"

He breathed heavily as he went deeper into his thoughts. "They took you, Uncle…just like they took father…just like they took my friend Littlefoot's mother…just like one of them nearly took all of our lives, trying to reach the valley…Because of what? What? Because of some absurd notion that life all works in some kind of circle, and that these, these…killers, are somehow a part of it all?" He screamed out the last part as he thrashed at the water with one of his wings, splashing it.

"There must be a way to get back…" He growled to himself as he sat near the water. "There must be a way that I can get back at them all…but how?" He sighed as he played with the water a little more…

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Back on The Harbinger, final tests were being run in another section of the lab. Giga fighters were walking about, taking additional readings as an object floated along the bottom of a large glass container, filled with yellowish liquid.

The object, a belt of some kind, was a bit of Paxerian technology that Kevran had studied, and personally developed as a sort of trump card in case he ever needed it in his grand scheme for Earth.

The nearly complete belt now carried a symbol, a golden X…the symbol of Kaixa…


	4. The Demon Returns

"What do you mean he looked like me?" Littlefoot asked Petrie's mother as she tended to the still unconscious Pterano. Once he had heard about the appearance of the strange being at Flyer rock, he ran right over with Shorty to investigate. "Was he a longneck, you mean?"

"No, it was nothing like that…" Petrie's mother sighed as she washed off some of Pterano's wounds with some water trapped in leaves. "But his body seemed to be in the same kind of armor that you and Shorty both had for that brief period of time. He had large eyes and everything."

Shorty narrowed his eyes as he looked at Littlefoot. "Do you think he could be an Impactor?"

Littlefoot shook his head quickly. "No…an Impactor wouldn't go to the trouble of helping one of our kind…"

Shorty looked over to Pterano's sleeping form and nodded slowly, before looking back to Littlefoot. "What if it was another suit left behind by that Neo-Spirit thing, that created all of our suits?"

"That wouldn't make any sense…" Littlefoot turned his head back to Shorty. "That computer collected all of the other suits for safety reasons…why would it leave one behind?"

Shorty then thought of something else. "Maybe it came back…and made a new one."

Littlefoot's eyes went wide at the thought, wondering why the Neo-Spirit would suddenly need to return to this planet. "If that's true…" he spoke slowly. "…Then I'd give anything to know where it is right now…and who exactly is wearing that new suit…"

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Tendou walked onto the ship of the Neo-Spirit, her image coming up on a screen right in front of him as he made his way to the bridge.

"That was a very noble thing you did…" she spoke warmly. "Devoting your time to helping that injured creature. Quite unlike the Impactor I once knew."

"Thank you." Tendou smiled and bowed his head gently, before walking into the circular room fully. The Neo-Spirit brought up some fruit for him, a platter lowering onto a table via a robotic arm, as he ate quietly.

"Part of me still wanted to fight Kevran and his pet monster, but…I was able to suppress that, thankfully." He then sighed softly. "I just wish I could find that younger flyer he was with…" He stood, deep in thought, before taking another bite of his fruit and speaking. "I've seen him before…his name's Petrie…a friend of my brother's I think."

"Well…" The Neo-Spirit spoke with a small smile. "If it's true he's close to the one who became Agito, and you can bring him back to his senses…perhaps there's a way we can get him to help out with our mission."

Tendou cocked his head a little. "I don't follow…"

The Neo-Spirit smiled as another screen came up next to where she had materialized. "Since the Kabuto unit turned out to be such a success, I've already started research on a new unit to compliment it in the future. We might need it, considering what we know of Kevran's plan at this point."

Tendou looked on with interest as the image of what looked like a blue stag beetle materialized on the screen next to the Neo-Spirit. "I drew up the initial plans while you were out searching…" she spoke again, "I call this unit 'Gatack'…it has the exact same power level as Kabuto, with some slight improvements in stealth and speed, even in the default, masked form."

"Couldn't I just use it?" Tendou chuckled a little as he enquired.

"We couldn't risk it, Tendou…" She responded, sternly. "Using just one of these newer units can be very taxing to a creature such as yourself…if you try to use both Kabuto and Gatack at the same time, then there's no telling what sort of strain that might cause on your heart and your central nervous system."

Tendou nodded slowly as he munched on a few grapes now. "Good point…the only thing left to consider now is how I'm going to find Petrie…"

"I wouldn't worry too much about that." The Neo-Spirit responded, her form floating idly over the main screen as she watched Tendou enjoy his lunch. "He's very lonely and confused, most likely thinking his elder is dead now…in time, he'll probably be trying to find you."

Tendou nodded gently as he took one final bite of his meal. He then walked over to another screen on his four legs, getting a good look at Kevran's signal, who the Neo-Spirit recently locked onto.

"Let's see where our Impactor friend is now…" He spoke slowly.

The Neo-Spirit analyzed the area as he watched. "Kevran seems to be approaching another open area, about 12 miles from here…I'm detecting multiple organisms, more carnivorous life forms…smaller, but still very fierce."

"Ok then…" Tendou nodded as he walked towards his vehicle, the Jet Streamer. "I guess I should go over and have a look…" As he said this, the red beetle flew off of a shelf nearby, attaching itself to his belt once more.

"Henshin." He spoke, as the belt whirred to life with the Beetle. "HENSHIN", the computer spoke, as he once again transformed into Kabuto's masked form. His heavily armored body then slipped carefully onto the jet streamer as a door slowly opened for the vehicle.

Tendou looked over and nodded to the Neo-Spirit, before pulling back on the throttle, and blasting out of the ship…

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Kevran's ship had touched down near the open area where many of the Raptors claimed as their territory. The Raptors themselves were startled by the appearance of the craft, but unlike the lesser creatures in their land, they stood their ground, all growling as they watched the doors slowly open.

The Impactor slowly stepped out onto the earth once more, his new bodyguard, the T-Rex Dinopactor, stepping out next to him, its tail swishing as it crossed the arms of its new humanoid body, quickly getting the hang of it. All of the giga-fighters walked out with them, as backup.

"Watch yourself…" Kevran warned all his followers, his gun at the ready. "We are in very hostile territory…"

Within moments of him saying this, a Raptor suddenly leapt out from nowhere, tackling one of the giga-fighters. It began tearing the robot to shreds before Kevran quickly turned and shot the creature with his gun.

The Raptor screeched and rolled away as Kevran turned, seeing another Raptor flying towards him. He held out his gun to fire again, before the Dinopactor saved him the trouble, reaching out and grabbing the smaller monster by the throat. The Raptor thrashed and slashed futilely at the larger Dinopactor, before it growled, threw its large arm, and slammed the raptor headfirst into the ground, killing it instantly.

The Impactor's creation then roared and threw the lifeless body off to the side, ready to take on the other Raptors as the Giga-fighters prepared to protect their leader as best they could.

Another Raptor tried to lunge at Kevran, recognizing him as the pack leader, as it were, before the Dinopactor grabbed it by its tail, and hauled it up, ready to smash its face it as it growled and reared back with its other fist…

"Wait…" Kevran warned the Dinopactor, before loading his gun with another strain of Symbiosis. "I think we just found ourselves another volunteer…"

The former T-Rex growled and slowly nodded, holding the thrashing Raptor out for Kevran, as he fired the strain directly into the creature's side. The Raptor shrieked, then trembled as the effects quickly too hold. The Dinopactor dropped it as it shrieked some more and convulsed, its eyes taking the same green color as the T-rex's soon afterward. Phase one was complete once more…

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Kevran and the others were so consumed in their task at the moment, that none of them realized what was going on in their now empty ship. They didn't even notice the young flyer that had tracked them down, and slowly snuck on board after they disembarked…

Petrie cautiously crept through the corridor's interior, his scarred face looking to his right and his left. He had caught wind of the burning scent the ship left behind not long ago, and was able to find it through this detection.

He didn't know exactly what he was doing in such a dangerous place at this moment, but his mind was running on pure instinct now…something inside of him was telling him…there was something…something on this ship…that could actually help him get what he desired…but what?

He kept walking, the darkened metal corridors creating an ominous atmosphere, red lights in the halls providing the only real illumination, until he came upon a room that was emitting an unearthly glow…

Petrie turned, and slowly made his way into the room…inside he saw all manner of bizarre scientific instruments, scattered all around the room. Computers screens displayed images he couldn't explain, all about concepts he couldn't even begin to comprehend…

It didn't matter though, as the only thing he focused on at this point, was the container…

The large glass container sat forebodingly at the end of the room, the greenish yellow liquid inside creating the glow that had caught his attention. Petrie walked over to it slowly, lightly tapping on the glass as he saw the object inside of it…a belt.

"I…I know you…" He spoke softly, his scarred face looking inside of the glass, observing the yellow "X" symbol on the belt. "You were an enemy of my old friends…yet now…somehow…" He narrowed his eyes. "Something inside says that you could be a friend to me…"

He reached gently into the cool liquid, pulling out the belt and looking at it, picking up the driver that lay next to it, holding it in his hand.

"Kaixa…" He spoke again, remembering. "They called you Kaixa…"

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Tendou arrived on the scene in his vehicle, observing the havoc being caused by Kevran in the Raptor territory. He landed carefully, and was careful not to draw much attention from the Raptors, as he watched Kevran from a distance.

The Impactor looked over at the converted Raptor, placidly standing by his side, as he then quickly spotted Tendou, in his Kabuto armor, and sighed.

"My mystery foe…" He spoke aloud. "If you're going to insist on being a thorn in my side, then you leave me no choice but to permanently pull you out…" He then looked to the T-Rex and motioned over to Tendou.

The Dinopactor growled and nodded as it began to run over to where Tendou was standing. The teen longneck wasted no time, pulling back the horn on the beetle and casting off his heavy armor. The monster shielded itself with its partially armored arms as Tendou took on his sleeker "Change Beetle" form.

The T-Rex roared out and ran in to clothesline Tendou once again, only to have him pull out his dagger and run right past him, slashing into the creature's side. The Dinopactor growled angrily and held its side, a bit of green blood coming out as it lunged and snapped at Tendou with its big, metal lined jaws.

Tendou simply dodged and swiped with his dagger, trying to find an opening before he sensed a Raptor leaping at him from behind. He simply ducked, causing the Raptor to fly right onto the Dinopactor and start biting into it. The monster roared out in pain, before it grabbed and pulled the raptor off with one arm, punched it hard with the other, and threw it into another group of Raptors, making them all tumble.

Tendou then backed up slowly, pressing the buttons on his belt, the computer saying "1, 2, 3…" as he pressed each one.

"Rider kick!" he called out, before pulling the horn on the beetle once more, the computer speaking, "RIDER KICK" as the energy began to build in his suit. The Dinopactor walked slowly towards Tendou, as he prepared to let the creature have it…he then suddenly sensed two giga-fighters behind him, and was forced to turn around, and let them have it instead, the force of the kick causing them both to explode.

Kevran slowly walked back to his ship, with the Raptor in two, planning to wait until the next phase took hold on the creature before he did anything with it, letting the other Dinopactor fight with Tendou some more.

He then stood deathly still, holding out his hand to the Raptor, as he saw the form of a young flyer walking out of the ship…and carrying the secret weapon that he was planning on finding a more suitable host for in time…

"Where do you think you're going with that thing, child?" Kevran asked, cryptically.

Petrie looked at the belt he held, and back up to the Impactor. "That's for Kaixa to decide…"

With that, the teen flyer swiftly placed the metal belt around his waist, and flipped open the new Kaixa driver, typing in the code he read on the board above the belt's container in the ship…913, then the enter key.

"STANDING BY" the dark, distorted, almost evil computer's voice spoke up for the first time, as Petrie closed the driver up and held it tightly.

"You idiot…" Kevran shook his head. "Your body can't possibly be the right genetic type for Kaixa…that belt is going to kill you…"

"I don't care…" Petrie shot back. "If I'm meant to die this way, then I'll die…Henshin!"

He then quickly slipped the Kaixa driver into the middle of his belt, clicking it into place as Kevran expected the inevitable "Error" message, followed by the foolish teen turning to dust…

"COMPLETE"

Kevran stepped back as he heard this, the yellow photon streams shooting out of the belt, and encircling Petrie as he held out his arms, tilting his head back as he felt the powerful force washing over him, changing his form and making it grow to Kevran's level…

Tendou kicked the Dinopactor away in the distance, stunned as he looked over and saw the form of Kaixa standing in front of the Impactor.

"Oh no…" He thought to himself. "You didn't…Kevran, please tell me you didn't…"

"Yes…" Petrie spoke as he looked over his armored body, in full Kaixa regalia. "Yes! It is meant to be!" He shouted out in a combination of joy, and exhilaration. "It is meant to be!"

Kevran, frustrated, ran over and pointed his gun right at Petrie's head. "Give me that damn belt! No matter what you think, it's not meant for such a reckless child!"

Petrie could not be stopped, though, as he felt the power of Kaixa intoxicating him. He quickly reached up and grabbed Kevran's gun arm with his right arm, kicking and flipping the Impactor onto his back with amazing strength.

Tendou wrestled with the Dinopactor, fighting off its jaws every so often as he punched and kicked at the monster, not getting a lot of progress as he stopped every so often to look at Kaixa. He had not seen Petrie earlier, so he had no clue it was he in that suit.

Petrie calmly walked along, surveying the fight, until a few Raptors decided to try and go after the newcomer, leaping and slashing at him. But Petrie, full of a new sense of determination, was ready for the creatures, kicking one aside as he ran and smacked another hard across the face with his right hand. He then grabbed the third by the leg and swung it, throwing it into one of the others.

Tendou still fought hard with the Dinopactor as Kevran got up, deciding to flee for now as he got back onto the ship with the remaining giga fighters, and blasted off.

Petrie backhanded another Raptor hard, and threw it across the field before he took out Kaixa's powerful weapon, the "blaygun" and cocked it, aiming…he let his instincts continue to drive him as he let loose a rapid fire barrage of yellow bullets, which peppered the Raptor until it collapsed, turning to dust.

With that, Petrie turned, aimed the blaygun at the head of the Dinopactor, still focused on Tendou, and fired…

It was only a single shot, but it was right on target, the Dinopactor growling and clutching its eye as part of Petrie recognized the beast as the same one that injured him, and as he believed, killed his Uncle Pterano.

He quickly removed the slip over the Kaixa driver, known as the "mission memory" and slipped it into the base of the blaygun as he ran towards the monster.

"READY" The computer spoke, as a long yellow blade extended from the bottom of the weapon. Tendou quickly stepped back, not wanting to get in the way of whoever this new Kaixa was, as he jumped in and let the Dinopactor have it with some hard slashes across the chest. The creature roared and tried to swipe at Petrie, but it was no use.

Petrie knocked the beast back with a hard upward slash, sending it down for the first time as it rolled, and weakly got back onto its feet. Tendou merely watched, as Petrie opened the Kaixa driver on his belt, and pressed enter…

"EXCEED CHARGE" the same distorted computer voice spoke, as a rush of energy ran along Petrie's arm, and into the blaygun. Before the Dinopactor could react, he sent out a single yellow bullet, which ensnared the beast in a powerful yellow energy net once it hit.

The blade on Petrie's weapon hummed as it glowed, as he took a moment to ready himself, rearing back a little with his blaygun raised…after a moment, he finally charged towards the Dinopactor, becoming a flash of yellow energy once he got within a few feet of it, vanishing as he sliced on through.

The Dinopactor roared out in agony as he felt the attack slicing through its form, before Petrie finally appeared behind him, his weapon at his side. The creature's body froze as a flash came over it, the earth shaking just a little as its body turned to dust and crumbled, the yellow X symbol of Kaixa appearing over it as this happened.

For what seemed like forever, Tendou watched as the new Kaixa stood perfectly still, his back turned to him.

"I don't know who you are…" Tendou walked up behind him. "But I want to thank you for stopping that creature for me…"

He reached out to place a hand on Petrie's back…only to have Petrie suddenly reach back and grab the hand, and flip Tendou over. He then placed a foot on Tendou's throat, completely drunk with the power of the Kaixa gear as he glared down at him.

"I'm only going to warn you once…" He spoke, in a very threatening tone of voice. "Do not interefere with my mission…"

"Mission?…" Tendou replied, confused.

Petrie nodded slowly under his helmet. "What happened to me today was a revelation…we can no longer live in fear, waiting to see which one of us these murderers will eat next…from this point on I am the avenging spirit of all those terrorized and killed by the sharpteeth…and I will not rest until each and every last one of these beasts is dead!"

He then let go of Tendou's arm, and kicked him across the back. "Now stay out of my way!" He then walked away, and slowly removed the Kaixa driver, pressing the cancel button…Tendou got up just in time to see Petrie return to his original form, looking at the driver, and up at the sky, the sun reflecting off his scarred face.

"For you, Uncle…" he spoke softly, before taking off, flying away from the scene with the inactive belt still around him.

Tendou just shook his head as he sat up in the field. "This is not good…this is NOT good…" was all that he could manage to say at this point.


	5. Paths of Uncertainty

"Damn it all!" a frustrated Kevran shouted as he walked into his ship. He'd been working on the new Kaixa gear for all this time, ready to slap it onto a cooperative genetic match when he needed it. But now it had been stolen, and being used by someone not allied with him.

"If only I'd brought more giga fighters," he thought to himself. "I could have been able to protect the belt properly."

He then heard a sudden noise as he turned, spotting the raptor he had just converted with Symbiosis. The creature was growling in pain as it was now going through stage 2 of the change, its body shifting and becoming more humanoid in shape, as computerized Impactor parts grafted themselves onto its frame, making it into a brand new Dinopactor.

"At least this wasn't a total loss…" Kevran addressed the Dinopactor as he got up and walked slowly towards it. "I just wish your brother could have been here to witness this…" He was of course referring to the now destroyed T-Rex. "Oh well…such is life."

Moments after saying this, he turned to see one of his Giga fighters walking into the room. Its hands were both out, close together as if it was carefully holding something in them.

"What have you found?" He asked the robot, as it stopped just a few feet short of him, and held out its hands further. It seemed to be holding a pile of grey dust, something it scooped up after the ship returned to the scene of the last battle, once his enemies had left.

Kevran took a very close look and analyzed it. He soon recognized that these were the remains of the T-Rex Dinopactor. At that point, the Impactor was about to question why the robot had gone to all this trouble to bring the creature's ashes…then it dawned on him before he could even speak.

"I just had a very interesting idea…" Kevran spoke to the Giga fighter. "The subject's remains are such that they might just have some useable DNA left in them…Do you think that there might be enough to respawn this being at least once?"

The robot simply nodded.

"Yes…" Kevran thought to himself, as he ordered the robot to take the ashes to the lab. "We just might come out of this all right after all…" If he were a capable of smiling, he would have been doing it now, as he slowly walked down another hallway, disappearing once more…

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Tendou sat with his head hanging low as he recovered from his last fight on the ship. The Neo Spirit watched over him as she replicated some more vegetation for him to eat, even though he wasn't feeling all that hungry at the moment.

"He's so different…" Tendou reminisced, remembering his times as an Impactor when he briefly saw Petrie. "So much anger…such hatred."

"Much like what once consumed you…" The Neo Spirit spoke.

Tendou sighed as he nodded. He ate some fruit, but only for his nourishment and recovery. "Yes. And I know from experience, that it's a hard weight to get off your shoulders."

"But it is not impossible to turn from the path of hatred and vengeance." The computer reassured him. "You of all creatures should know that. You've gone down the dark path, and lived to see the folly of it. You have much knowledge you can apply in this matter."

"You're right…" Tendou thought this over for a moment as he nodded. "I just hope I can find Petrie and bring him down from all this, before he causes any real damage to anyone." He munched on some fruit again as he trembled a bit at the thought.

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Through a narrow corridor of rocks, the migrating herd of longnecks made their passage slowly. The ever-maturing Ali was among them once more, currently content in helping out her mother, who was caring for friends that were slowly recovering from their illness.

Her mother looked down towards her, as she tromped along the rocky terrain. She smiled lightly and addressed her daughter.

"They're all getting much better now, wouldn't you say?"

Ali hummed gently, as she observed her mother's friends…they all were walking a bit slowly, but indeed they were improving.

"Yes…on the whole, yes. They do seem to be recovering." She nodded with a smile.

"Well then…" Her mother smiled more. "There would appear to be no need for you around the herd anymore."

Ali smiled and cocked her eyebrow a bit. "What do you mean? You're my herd…we always need each other."

"Yes…" Her mother nodded gently. "Your herd, your family, will always be there for you, in spirit if not in the flesh…but you're growing now, Ali. You need a chance to figure out your own life as well…to figure out what you want."

Ali just nodded gently, lost in thought. Her mother spoke once again. "If you want to return to the valley…to him…you have my full permission." She smiled warmly as she gazed at her daughter.

The teen longneck laughed a bit, knowing exactly what her mother was getting to. "Oh mother…" she shook her head slowly.

"What?" Her mother smiled, seeming a little surprised now. "It's no secret to me that you have a fondness for your friend, Littlefoot."

"I do…" Ali smiled. "And part of me really wants to go back to the valley and see him after all this time…but…"

"But?" Her mother responded.

Ali sighed now. "Another part of me doesn't want to…you know, settle down." She strolled slowly over the rocky terrain as she observed the land around her. "Ever since I was born, I've been used to moving, going from land to land, seeing new things and revisiting old memories at the same time…I just can't imagine simply going to the valley and giving that up…I don't want my adventures to suddenly end."

"Ali…" Her mother responded tenderly. "Even the greatest adventures ever known to our kind mean nothing, if you have no one to share them with…You've been lucky to have me with you for your earliest journeys, but you know I won't be able to journey with you forever…"

Ali nodded slowly as she continued. "And if you return and settle down with Littlefoot, who's to say your adventures won't end completely? Besides, when you think about it, life…living…loving…struggling…triumphing…life in itself is a very big journey."

Ali thought this over and nodded. "You're right…" she smiled a bit. "I think I can look inside my heart a little better now…and I think my heart's telling me I should return to the valley…right after we make it through this pass…"

Her mother nodded happily and leaned down, lovingly nuzzling her growing daughter. They continued on with the rest of the herd, walking towards the other side of the passage, before the leader suddenly spotted something.

"Wait a moment…" The elderly longneck spoke, as the entire herd stopped behind her. She looked far into the distance, towards the exit…and suddenly saw a pack of hungry raptors heading right towards them.

"Turn back! Turn Back!" She shouted, the herd responding as quickly as they could, and making their way back to the other side of the rocky pass. The raptors all snarled and roared in patterns, communicating to each other as they ran swiftly towards their targets, claws twitching and at the ready.

Ali breathed heavily as she ran alongside her mother, looking up at her every so often to ensure that she was able to move as quickly as she was, both of them now at the rear of the herd. The raptors still gained on them though, sprinting with great athleticism as they hissed and tapped the rocks with their claws every so often.

The teen longneck looked back, and gasped, seeing the pack leader heading right towards her, and gaining ground as it snapped at her with its jaws every so often. She huffed and puffed as she ran, her mind awash in terror of being caught as she heard the steps and loud taps of the raptor's claws behind her.

Before the raptor could make its leap onto her, though, something came shooting out of sky towards the raptor's right side, and tackled it. Ali ran a few more feet, before suddenly stopping and turning around to see what exactly it was that had run into the pack leader. The other raptors slowed down as well, wondering who had dared to challenge their leader.

Ali's mother turned and halted as well, seeing her daughter stopping along with the raptors, as the familiar figure of a flyer stood near the pack leader.

"Petrie!" Ali shouted in surprise.

Petrie didn't respond to Ali's call, the Kaixa belt still around his waist, as he faced down the pack leader. The raptor got to its feet and snarled at the flyer, as he simply stood his ground, holding the Kaixa driver off to his right side.

"Having fun tormenting these peaceful creatures?" He spoke, sternly, while entering the code into the driver. "I think it's about time my kind showed you what it's like to be the hunted…Henshin!"

He quickly slipped the driver into his belt, the gold photon streams flowing around him, and transforming him into Kaixa once more. Ali looked on, absolutely awestruck.

"Petrie?" Her eyes were wide open. "Where did you get that thing?"

Again, Petrie did not respond, as the pack leader roared and leapt right towards him. Petrie simply reached out and grabbed the creature by the throat, letting it bite and slash at him with its claws, before he brought out his right foot, and punted the raptor with incredible strength. The creature grunted as it flew backwards, knocking over two other raptors as it hit the ground.

The other raptors all roared out in anger, and charged towards Petrie. One of them snapped at him with its jaws, only to have him reach out and grab its head, holding it under his right arm. He then used his strength to turn and throw this raptor into a few others, before sensing another trying to snap at him from behind. He then turned and smacked the creature across the face with his right fist, in a punch so hard that it shattered the dinosaur's jaw.

Ali watched in wonder as the injured raptor dropped down from this blow, whimpering as another one jumped towards Petrie. Petrie held up his left arm as he allowed the creature to lock its jaws onto the hard metal over his wrist. As the raptor tried in vain to bite through his gauntlet, he then reached down and grabbed the blaygun on his belt…he tilted it upward and aimed right for raptor's chest, shooting holes through its body as the energy bullets roared out.

He then took the dead raptor, still locked onto his wrist with its jaws as it started turning to dust, and slammed it against another advancing raptor, freeing it from his hand as he turned and kept another one at bay with a hard side kick. He then removed his blaygun from his belt, and cocked it, firing the weapon at the same raptor. The bullets riddled the creature's body as it fell instantly and crumbled into dust, the others still putting up a fight as they all jumped at, and missed their new target.

Petrie then removed the mission memory from his driver, and slipped it into the base of the blaygun. The sword portion shot out of the bottom, glowing and humming as he held it at the ready and swung it at the raptors. One slashed at him with a claw, as he swung underneath and sliced off its leg. The leg flew off and crumbled into dust as the creature fell and shrieked in pain, before Petrie then stabbed it in the chest with the blade…the raptor then went silent, and crumbled.

Another raptor roared and slashed at him from behind, slightly cutting into the armor as sparks flew. Petrie grunted and almost roared angrily in response. He ran his right shoulder into the raptor, throwing the creature off balance, before he rushed in and swiped his blade off to the left, quickly decapitating the dinosaur. Again, the head rapidly turned to dust, as the body dropped, and slowly crumbled.

Ali walked over to Petrie slowly, taken aback by this display of ferocity from the once docile flyer, but intrigued nonetheless. "Petrie…" She spoke slowly. "What's going on here?"

Petrie remained silent as she approached. He then suddenly raised his gun towards her. Ali gasped and stood still as he did this.

"Get down…" He calmly spoke.

Ali complied fast, ducking her head as Petrie aimed out to a raptor trying to flee the scene, and fired. The bullets were right on target as they flew over the distance, and slammed into the raptor's back. The last raptor in the pack grunted and screeched, before it finally fell over, and became dust.

The teen longneck looked back up, and over to the downed raptor, as Petrie gently removed the Kaixa driver and pressed the cancel button, changing back in a flash of light.

"Why?…" Ali asked calmly. "Why did you kill that one too…it was trying to escape…"

"No one can escape from me…" Petrie responded flatly, the belt still around his waist.

"I don't get it." Ali shook her head as the rest of the herd cautiously approached. "Why did you take out the entire pack of those sharpteeth?…what did they do to you?"

Petrie narrowed his eyes at her. "They were born."

Ali felt a shiver go up her spine…she was relieved to still be alive, sure, but something about the manner of the rescue seemed…off to her.

"I don't get it, Petrie." She shook her head. "I go for so long without seeing you, and now all of a sudden you show up, wearing the belt of an enemy Littlefoot defeated, and displaying the attitude of a cold killer. I don't understand."

"Unless the one you care for most is suddenly taken from you by a sharp-toothed murderer…" Petrie growled. "There's no way you CAN understand." He placed the Kaixa driver into a holder on the left side of his belt. "Now if you could just go on, and be grateful that you're still alive…I have more work to do…much more work."

With that, he extended his wings, and took off into the sky.

Ali looked up and watched the flyer leave on his unholy mission, before glancing back to her mother, a serious look in her eyes now.

"Ok…" she spoke. "Now I REALLY need to make my way back to the valley…"

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Time passed, and Petrie was once again in his Kaixa gear. He was walking slowly towards an area behind a few bushes, brushing the leaves aside with his hands as parts of his armor glowed in the slowly setting sun.

He made his way into a raptor nesting area, staring straight at a female that was guarding her clutch of eggs. She hissed and flexed her claws at him, as he looked to the clutch, and calmly slipped the mission memory into his blaygun, making the sword shoot out of the bottom once more.

Before he could savage the nest, however, something else came at him from the side. Tendou, in full Kabuto gear, came out and yelled as he tackled Petrie. The force of the tackle sent both of them away from the nest, and tumbling down a hill.

Petrie grunted and got back to his feet, holding his blaygun up in a fighting position as Tendou slowly stood up, with his arms simply at his sides. He slowly shook his head.

"Petrie…" Tendou sighed. "Have you really lost all your sense of shame now?…"

"I told you to stay out of my way!" Petrie growled, having never seen Tendou out of his armor. "And how do you know my name?"

Tendou calmly walked towards him. "I can explain everything right now…all you have to do is give me the damned belt…"

"Stay away from me!" Petrie yelled, slashing at Tendou's hand, and nearly severing his fingers. Tendou jumped back for a moment and grunted as sparks flew on the back of his hand.

Tendou sighed and shook his head. "Very well…have it your way…"

With that, he withdrew his dagger, and twirled it a little, as Petrie kept his blaygun at the ready…the sun still was setting slowly over them both, as they prepared for their first real clash…


	6. Uneasy Reunion

Petrie made the first move, leaping towards Tendou in his Kaixa armor, his blaygun prepared to strike. Tendou quickly side-stepped his opponent, and kicked him hard on his left side, sending him tumbling to the ground. Petrie grunted and landed on his stomach, as Tendou twirled his dagger.

"If you're not going to give your gear up willingly, I'll have to cut it off your waist." He spoke to Petrie, his tone very serious.

Petrie growled as he turned onto his back, aimed his blaygun at Tendou, and fired. Tendou stopped advancing as he brought up his arm, his blade deflecting the bullet as Petrie quickly got back onto his feet.

"Try it!" he shouted, the blade part of his weapon still glowing with power as he swung it a few times. "See if I don't cut your arm off first!"

Tendou shook his head, before he took a sudden step towards Petrie. He swung his dagger towards the flyer's middle, aiming for the Kaixa driver, only to find Petrie anticipated this. He responded by slapping Tendou's arm away with his left hand, and swinging towards his head with the right, which held his blaygun.

Tendou managed to weave in time, but not before the end of the blade grazed his helmet's left side, making it spark. He grunted and held his head with his left hand, making sure nothing internal was damaged as he faced Petrie down, his dagger ready in his right hand.

At this point, Petrie cocked his blaygun. "BURST MODE" the evil computerized voice spoke, as he aimed at Tendou and fired once again. Bullets rapidly sprayed from the muzzle as Tendou quickly twirled his knife in response. He deflected some of them, but it was only a matter of seconds before many of them began to pepper his strong armor, making dents and sparks as they went along.

Tendou yelled out in pain and frustration, as he quickly leapt from his ground, landing behind some rocks. Petrie stopped firing, and took the moment to recharge the energy in his weapon for another barrage. Before he could aim it, however, he suddenly saw Tendou's dagger flying right towards him.

It stuck itself into his right shoulder, piercing through the armor, as Petrie yelled out in pain, firing his weapon wildly, but not hitting anything. Tendou then rushed out from behind the rock, and yelled out as he jumped and extended his right foot, kicking his opponent right in the sternum.

Petrie grunted and fell back, the wind knocked out of him, as he smacked his head against a hard rock once he landed. He clutched his head and writhed silently, his breath still trying to return, as Tendou walked towards him slowly.

He quickly pulled the dagger out of Petrie's shoulder, as the flyer gasped and grunted a bit in pain, panting under his helmet. Tendou then brought the weapon over to one of the sections of the Kaixa belt.

"This ends now…" he stated firmly, as he prepared to cut through all the metal and cables.

Before he could act, though, something else came from the distance, and struck him hard in the back. He grunted and rolled away, turning to face his new challenger. He then saw Kevran in the distance, holding his gun.

"I'm afraid I can't let you take that boy's power…" Kevran shouted from the distance. "Far too much trouble for me."

Tendou got up quickly to face Kevran, as Petrie discretely changed back to his original form, and flew away from the scene. Tendou could only watch at this point, and grunted in frustration as he looked back towards Kevran.

"What's the meaning of this?" Tendou shouted back. "He stole that belt from you…now you're helping him?"

Kevran rubbed his chin a little. "I have to admit, I was angry at first…but now that I think about it, what could be better than a wild, untamed individual with a grudge holding a powerful weapon? It'll keep you out of my affairs."

"What about your plan?" Tendou countered. "If you let him run wild, he'll cause trouble for your forces as well."

Kevran chuckled a bit. "My friend, I have already found ways to deal with the problem…" He stepped back as a larger figure stepped out from behind him. Tendou was shocked to see that the T-rex Dinopactor lived once more, growling and thumping his chest with a big fist. His remains were cultivated in the same vat that created the new Kaixa gear, and allowed to fully regenerate from there.

The creature wasn't alone either, as the new Raptor dinopactor leapt down from a tree where it had been spying before, snarling and flexing the big claws that had now been moved to its metallic wrists.

"You've gone mad, Kevran!" Tendou shouted. "This goes beyond even the hardest ethical issues of the Impactor race itself!"

Kevran shook his head. "I've grown tired of this rambling from you…someone who doesn't even know the first thing about being an Impactor." He then raised his gun and fired. Tendou quickly responded, sliding off to the side and deflecting the beam with his gauntlet, making it bounce off a rock, and smack his t-rex dinopactor right in the chest.

The Impactor stood there, stunned as the creature stumbled a bit, but growled and held its ground.

"Only one has ever been able to deflect one of my shots like that…" Kevran's mind raced back to old training exercises. There was no doubt about it now…the technique, the similarities in speed and balance, and now this slick move.

"By the gears of Hwrondar…" Kevran spoke, invoking the name of one of the original Impactors. "What happened to you, Logia? I thought you had perished."

Tendou smiled under his helmet, as Kevran finally recognized him. "I have discarded that name, Kevran…" He spoke as he pointed slowly towards the sky. "I am now walking the path of Heaven…I am Tendou."

"Those Paxerians poisoned your mind, I see…" Kevran shook his head slowly.

"It's you who are poison, Kevran…" Tendou shot back. "You're poisoning this whole planet with these perversions you're trying to create!"

Kevran almost growled as he responded. "Let me remind you, Logia, that you, yourself, are a perversion!" He readied his gun once more. "But you were a most successful perversion…I planned to have the entire Impactor race follow your example, and see the wisdom in combining organic and mechanical strength. Now I find you alive, and standing in the way of a vision I dedicated to you." He shook his head again. "What a funny, and cruel universe we live in, eh?"

Tendou had heard enough, and charged towards Kevran, twirling his dagger. Kevran fired his weapon as Tendou jumped off to the side, only find himself suddenly flying towards the T-rex, who grabbed him by the neck with a large clawed hand.

"Finish him…" Kevran spoke to his creatures. "But don't do it too quickly…He's regained all his organic parts it seems, including his nerves…I want him to know what real organic pain feels like before the end."

The T-rex nodded slowly and growled as Kevran turned and left the scene. Tendou dangled and choked a little bit, before he started kicking a bit at the creature's chest. The Dinopactor growled in annoyance and grabbed Tendou's leg with its other hand, prompting it to lean in closer. Tendou then suddenly brought his right hand over, and caught the T-Rex off guard with hard right hook along its muzzle.

The T-Rex grunted and let go of Tendou, as he fell on his feet, and charged in with a left hook now, smacking the creature's head as it flung to the left, making the Dinopactor stumble.

Seconds later, the raptor came rushing in, slashing Tendou across the back with one of its claws. Tendou grunted in pain as he turned to face the new creature, reaching out with his feet as he repeatedly tried to nail the raptor with multiple roundhouse kicks.

The raptor Dinopactor was very swift though, and spun past his last kick so it was almost behind him, slashing him across the side with a claw. Sparks flew as Tendou yelled out and rolled away, getting back to his feet quickly.

Both the raptor and the T-Rex faced him down now, both growling and preparing to attack. Tendou twirled his dagger and got into a defending position. His mind was racing as he tried to figure out a way to fight both these creatures at once.

Before he had time to really panic, though, something suddenly appeared. It was the form of a teen, female longneck.

"Ali!" Tendou recognized her immediately. She had heard the commotion from miles away, and ran over to investigate. She was now in shook in what she now saw…and heard.

"How do you know my name?" she quickly asked, in an almost demanding fashion. Before she could get an answer, though, she suddenly saw the T-Rex reach out with its arm and fire a beam weapon towards the distracting longneck.

Tendou quickly ran over to her as the monster fired, leaping and pushing her out of the way. The beam narrowly missed them both as it crashed into a tree, knocking it over.

The T-Rex growled as it let off another blast from its weapon. Tendou was ready as Ali quickly got behind him. He swung his dagger, this time catching the beam in his dagger as it glowed with the energy. He then threw the weapon back towards the creature, making it slice through a tree. The T-Rex was too slow to get out of the way, as it fell and crashed on top of it, pinning the beast.

The creature was out cold, as Tendou now saw the raptor Dinopactor coming towards him and Ali. Ali stayed right behind the armored fighter, as he ducked and weaved the raptor's constant slashes from its claws. He then found an opening, and gripped the creature by the neck under his arm, punching it in the side repeatedly, before jumping up and kicking it right in the jaw. The raptor grunted as it stumbled over and fell onto its back.

Ali watched on in awe as Tendou took this moment to press the three buttons on his belt's middle. "1, 2, 3" the computer spoke as he pressed each one, before pulling on the horn of his beetle, making it click into position. "RIDER KICK".

Energy collected in the horn on Tendou's helmet, as the raptor got back up and charged towards him once more, as his right claw rose to strike. Tendou simply stood and waited for the right moment, before he suddenly grabbed the raptor by the arm, and threw him to the side, still holding on. He raised his right leg, and smacked the creature across the face with a hard roundhouse kick, letting go of his arm a split-second after. The raptor squealed as it did a backflip, landed on its back right next to Tendou, and exploded.

Ali stepped back and turned her head away as the explosion rocked the area, closing her eyes. Once the rumbling stopped, she slowly opened them again. She then saw the armored form of Kabuto standing in the clearing smoke. He took the moment to once again slowly raise his hand, pointing his finger towards the heavens.

With that, he stared at Ali for a moment. Part of him wanted to open up, but another part of him wanted to remain anonymous. He remained silent, as he slowly turned, and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Ali shouted out to him. "Who are you?"

Tendou turned back to face her for a moment. He was silent for the first few seconds, before finally speaking…"That is none of your concern." He started to walk off again. "Go back to your home and live…I shall handle this matter in due time."

"Oh, no you don't!" The stubborn female began to walk after him. "I just saw you fighting off monsters that looked like sharpteeth but were dressed like Impactors. There's no way you're going to leave me in the dark about this."

Tendou gritted his teeth under his helmet as he looked back to Ali. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna follow you…and I'm not stopping until you tell me who you are, and what's going on."

The armored fighter shook his head. "This is a very dangerous road I'm traveling. You're going to get yourself killed."

"Then you'd better tell me now…" Ali responded, standing her ground.

Tendou froze, and slowly lowered his head. It was clear now that there was no getting rid of this girl.

"Very well…" he softly spoke, as he turned and loosened the red beetle on his belt. A clicking noise was heard, as the beetle detached itself and flew away, making Tendou change back into his original form slowly.

Ali looked on in wonder as she now saw a male longneck, about her age, standing in front of him. He looked a lot like Littlefoot, save for a few markings on his body, and his scent was similar. The scars were missing on his face, but she slowly began to recognize him as he stared at her with his piercing eyes.

"Logia…" she spoke gently, in a combination of shock, and wonder.

Tendou winced a little. "Please don't call me that anymore…"

Ali nodded gently as she approached him slowly. "What should I call you then?"

The male looked to the blue sky for a moment, then back down to Ali. "I am now called Tendou…it's a name the Neo-Spirit gave me."

"The Neo-Spirit?" She responded, quickly furrowing her brow, quickly putting the pieces together. "You mean…she brought you back, and she didn't even bother to tell us she was doing it?"

Tendou nodded gently. "Yes…it was only so that the Impactors, and other interested parties, would have no knowledge whatsoever of my regeneration until the time was right."

Ali's focus soon shifted to the creatures a second later. "What were those things you were fighting…they looked almost like-"

"What I had been before…" Tendou nodded in response. "And that's exactly the point…an Impactor named Kevran, a former ally of mine, has found a way to merge organic creatures like ourselves with the technology that makes up the Impactor race. He's already started with many of the sharpteeth, and I wouldn't be surprised if he started going after the leaf-eaters as well."

"That's terrible…" Ali shook her head, almost shivering at what she heard. She became curious once more. "Is it just you that's fighting them?"

Tendou nodded once more. "Yes…and that is the way it must be."

"But why?" Ali walked with Tendou as he tried to leave the scene. "If things are this serious again, why don't you talk with the Neo-Spirit about getting all the old suits back out? Why don't you talk to Littlefoot? I mean, he's your brother, if you haven't forgotten."

"Precisely…" Tendou responded. "And it is because I care for him, and you, and the others, that I insist I fight Kevran alone. I can't ask you all to risk your lives once again."

"Tendou…" Ali called him by his new name for the first time. "You're alive again…can't you realize that? Can't you realize there's a family in the valley that would be thrilled to see you alive and well?"

Tendou gave her a sharp look. "I do…it's on my mind all the time." He then sighed and lowered his head. "But I have a lot of weight to carry…a lot of past sins on my mind…right now, Kevran is carrying on with his horrible experiments, because he was so inspired by all the bad things I did in the past. If I can stop him, if I can end this scheme of his…then I may be finally able to quell some of the guilt that I carry."

He then walked right towards Ali. "And I want you to swear, right here and now, that you will not tell Littlefoot a thing about this…not until the time is right, and I can come home with a clean conscience…ok?"

Ali simply took a deep breath and sighed. "Very well…"

"Thank you…" he smiled a bit now. "I'm glad you understand."

Ali slowly walked up and gave Tendou a little nuzzle. "You take care of yourself…and promise me you'll come to the valley someday…"

"I promise…" Tendou spoke softly as Ali pulled back from her nuzzle. The two bade each other farewell, and went their separate ways…

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Tendou walked back onto the ship of the Neo-Spirit, hearing an odd computerized chirping above him. He looked up to see what looked like a blue stag beetle flying above him, floating around the ceiling. The mechanical creature then zipped back into its container, as the Neo-Spirit closed the door.

"Whoa…" Tendou spoke in wonder as he approached the container. "Is that Gattack?"

"Yes…" The computer responded. "The main power unit has been completed, and work on the belt is nearing completion." Tendou looked over to see two robotic arms putting together the last pieces of the belt, which looked very similar to his own.

"Very good…" Tendou smiled a bit as he walked over to another screen. This one consisted of blue and white wireframe images on a dark blue background, displaying diagrams of the Gattack armor, its weapons, and its capabilities.

"Only one thing left to consider…" He thought to himself. "Who am I going to find to use the damn thing?" 


	7. Bonds Broken

Note: I'm altering things slightly to include a few characters from the TV series, just so you know.

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Ali slowly made her way back towards land she had not been close to in some time. The sun peeked over the horizon as she had gotten a quick rest on the outskirts of the valley in the middle of the night, before making her way towards her destination.

Despite all that she had witnessed earlier, everything seemed right with the world at the moment. There was not a cloud in the sky, every rock seemed as smooth as the surface of the water under her feet. The light seemed to almost point in the direction of the valley as she made her way through one of the passages inside.

It didn't seem all that different from when she last left it, but Ali was still refreshed by the overwhelming beauty of the valley, such a contrast to the chaotic world her herd wandered through.

She thought this to herself as she walked into vast green meadows, as the trees swayed in the light breeze. Perhaps her mother knew what she was doing when she was encouraging her to return. All she knew through her life was wandering, but her mother remembered when the world used to look something like this. She realized that her mother probably wanted her to live in what she had years ago.

Her mind still began to wonder though…mainly if she should keep her promise to Tendou about not telling Littlefoot or the others about him being alive again. She also wondered, however, how her clingy male friend, Rhett, was going to take the news of her departure. She really hoped he wouldn't go running after her, especially with those dangerous creatures running around, along with Petrie and his Kaixa gear.

Her pondering was soon interrupted, however, by a familiar voice calling out to her.

"Ali!" Trica called out. The young threehorn was now about the same age Ali was when she and Cera first met. She ran up to her long departed friend with a big smile.

"Hello Tricia." Ali giggled a bit, as she looked her younger friend over. "My, you've grown quite a bit. And you're quite a sprinter now, aren't you?"

"Yeah…" Tricia grinned, showing off a flash of her older half-sister's confidence. "Cera says she's taught me well."

Ali then heard some laughing, as she saw another familiar face walk up behind her. "Sometimes I think a little too well." Cera spoke, the older threehorn grinning as she bowed her head politely in greeting to Ali.

"Good to see you again."

Ali smiled as she greeted her old friend once more. It wasn't long until Ducky took notice, and interrupted Spike from one of his many meals to come over and say hello to her once more. The teen longneck took the time to greet them all, hearing them mention Petrie's mysterious absence.

She simply nodded though, before she quickly enquired of Littlefoot's whereabouts. She got her answer soon enough when Shorty, who had noticed her from the distance, ran up to her in a quick greeting. There was still a slight uneasiness between them, since in their first meeting, he had attacked her in the form of an enraged Gillis, but each soon forgot about that.

Littlefoot was still in a fairly enclosed section of the valley, next to a stream. He was lost in thought as well, wondering exactly what that armored warrior was who had saved Pterano, and was presumably out looking for Petrie.

"Could it be?…" He wondered to himself as he looked up to the sky for a moment. He slowly looked back down though. "No…it can't be…I watched him die…it couldn't be…"

"Littlefoot?" He suddenly heard a female voice call to him. This gave him a slight jolt as he stood and turned to face the one who was addressing him. His eyes widened as he saw familiar face once more.

"Ali…" He spoke softly. "Ali…"

"We've been apart for so long…" She spoke as she walked towards him slowly, giving him a warm smile. "Surely you have more to say to me than just my name…"

"I…" He started slowly, a smile growing on his face as he gazed upon his friend once more. "…You have no idea how much I've missed you." He finally managed to say.

With that, Ali blushed softly, nodding to return his sentiments as she walked over to him. The two gently nuzzled each other, enjoying each other's company by the stream as the light penetrated the trees softly.

Ali then slowly pulled back from the nuzzle, as she looked her male friend right in the eyes, a serious look coming over her face as she remembered what she came here for.

"You're not gonna believe what's been going on outside this place…"

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Out in the mysterious beyond, another familiar pair of faces was out looking for food.

Chomper scavenged about in the flatland, the teenage T-rex searching for some more bugs to chew on. His longtime friend, and watcher, Ruby, was searching for some food in a pond at the same time. After spending a lot of time in the valley, Chomper eventually was reunited with his parents, but they were not around at the moment.

He had reached the age where most young Sharpteeth go into the first stages of separating from their parents, learning true independence. But, for the sake of old friendships, he allowed Ruby to tag along as well. Indeed, the teen Oviraptor hardly ever knew a moment in her life where she had been watching over Chomper, and it wouldn't have felt right to see him through this phase in his life as well.

"It's getting hotter again." Chomper spoke as he ate, just trying to make conversation.

Ruby smiled a bit as she nodded. "Why do you think I'm in the water, other than for food?"

Chomper nodded a bit…he wasn't sure what else to say though, as he continued to search around in the grass. Ruby looked on him with some concern as he seemed bored…and a bit preoccupied. They both knew they were fairly close to the valley.

"We could always drop in, you know…" Ruby spoke up, breaking the moment of silence. "Just to say hello to old friends."

Chomper winced a little. "I don't know Ruby…I'm…getting bigger you know…I might scare a lot of the others." He walked over to the water and washed up a bit to cool down. "I don't want to do that to them."

Ruby nodded, sympathetically, watching her friend cool himself down under the sun. She didn't want to believe it, but she knew he was telling the truth…the teen sharptooth was starting to have growth spurts, and his sudden appearance in the valley would indeed be alarming to those who didn't know him.

Little did they know, however, that part of their past in the valley had just rediscovered them…

"Ruby…" A familiar voice suddenly called out in the distance. The Oviraptor quickly jerked her head up, as Chomper also turned with his eyes wide, focusing on a figure in the distance…the figure of a flyer.

"Petire…" Ruby answered with a look of astonishment.

"Chomper too…" Petrie looked over to his old t-rex friend. "So you two do still hang out together."

"What are you doing all the way out here?" Chomper asked him, eyeing his middle. "And what do you have around your waist?"

"It's so wonderful to see you two again…" Petrie warmly spoke, his face taking a pained, emotional look. "I just wish it wasn't under these circumstances…"

Ruby froze up a bit, as something inside told her something wasn't right. "What are you talking about."

"Chomper…" Petrie spoke his friend's name again softly, eyeing the surprised T-rex. "Oh my old friend…" A single tear formed in his eye. "I'm so sorry…"

"Sorry for what?" Chomper asked, getting a little apprehensive himself.

"I'm so sorry…that I have to do this…" Petire sniffled as he withdrew the Kaixa driver from his belt. "It'll be painful…but true justice has never been without suffering and grief along the way." He slowly punched in the 913 code, and hit enter as the evil sounding voice said "STANDING BY…"

"Oh no…" Ruby spoke…she remembered hearing all the stories, of what had gone on in the valley a while ago, and this looked like one of the suits she had gotten wind of.

Chomper backed up, breathing a little harder. "What are you doing with that thing?"

Petrie didn't answer. "Henshin…" he softly spoke to himself, sliding the driver into the center of his belt once more. "COMPLETE"…the photon streams surrounded him, and transformed him once again, placing him in the black and yellow armor of Kaixa.

Ruby tried to run off quickly with Chomper in tow, as Petrie quickly extracted his blaygun and cocked it. "Ruby…you don't want to stay around and watch this…run away…leave him." He set his sights squarely on Chomper now.

"No!." Ruby shook her head as she stood in front of her friend now, holding out her arms. "I don't know what your problem is Petrie…but I'm not gonna let you do this! I'm not going to stand by and let you kill my friend…your friend too, if you haven't gone crazy enough to forget that!"

"Don't get in my way…" Petrie spoke again, his tone growing darker. He walked closer to the two, aiming his blaygun at Chomper's head, wanting to make this as quick and painless as possible.

"Run Chomper!" Ruby pushed the T-rex from behind. "Get out of here right now! Run back to your parents!"

Petrie had had enough. He swung his left arm around, smacking Ruby with a nasty backhand. She flew several feet and landed on the ground, moaning.

"Ruby!" Chomper shouted as he looked to his downed friend, and over to Petrie. That did it for him…"Why you-" he roared, sprinting over to the armored flyer, and clamping his jaw down on right arm before he could get a shot off.

Petrie shouted out and grunted as he could feel the strong teeth crunch into his armor slightly. He wrestled with Chomper for a moment, before he finally tucked away any previous sympathies he had for this young sharptooth, his hatred for all of Chomper's kind bubbling back to the surface.

He reared back a little with his left fist, and let Chomper have it with a hard blow on the head. Chomper grunted as this made his grip with his jaws loosen a bit, allowing Petrie to pull his arm out. He then growled as he stepped in and delivered a hard front kick to the T-rex's sternum, followed by a vicious right uppercut along the jaw.

Chomper moaned and fell onto the ground, curled up in pain as Petrie cocked his blaygun, ready to off his former friend with a single bullet as he once again aimed straight for his head.

The young T-rex closed his eyes, ready to take what was coming to him now, before Ruby suddenly found the energy to run back in his direction. She reached him just as Petrie fired, and jumped in front of him, taking the shot in her side.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Chomper screamed, scrambling to her feet as Petrie looked on in disbelief.

"Why…Why did you have to do that?" Petrie spoke to Ruby, as she moaned and shuddered from the impact, the shot leaving a nasty wound in her skin that went deep. "I never meant to hurt you."

Chomper held back the tears as he cradled Ruby, whose life signs were slowly fading with each second. Petrie shook his head and aimed for Chomper once more, hoping to put him out of his misery…before something struck him in the back.

He turned to see Tendou advancing towards him, having arrived just in time to keep any more nastiness from transpiring. His kabuto suit was in its heavily armored "masked form" once more, his gunaxe smoking from the shot he just fired.

"Why…why can't you just leave me alone!" Petrie roared to Tendou, firing his blaygun repeatedly as Tendou shifted to each shot, making sure they all bounced off the heaviest parts of his armor on his shoulders and upper chest.

Chomper watched all this in disbelief, still holding Ruby, as Petrie yelled in frustration and ran towards Tendou, extracting the blade section of his blaygun. Tendou, who had learned much from his last fight, was ready for this, as he swung the bladed section of his gunaxe, knocking away Petrie's blaygun expertly.

Petrie quickly responded by trying to throw Tendou off with a punch from his right hand. Tendou simply grabbed it with his armored left hand, bringing up his arm that held the gunaxe, and fired…

The shot went right into the face section of Petrie's Kaixa helmet. Petrie screeched in pain as the resulting sparks went inward, burning his face a bit. He fell away and gripped at his face, coughing as the helmet smoked just a little. Tendou then fired more shots from his gunaxe, making the stunned Flyer run away.

Noticing the wounded Oviraptor, Tendou then quickly summoned his jet streamer, the slim vehicle swooping down near him. He ran over to Chomper's side and lifted Ruby carefully.

"Who are you?" A surprised Chomper finally asked.

"I'll explain everything later…" Tendou responded. "Right now your friend needs help."

"Is…" Chomper hesitated to ask as he got onto the jet streamer with him. "Is she gonna be ok?"

Tendou sighed as he started to depart from the area. "She's hurt pretty bad…but I know someone who might be able to help her…" He then blasted off, advising Chomper to hold on tight as he quickly went back towards the Neo-Spirit's ship…

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The T-Rex dinopactor stumbled back onto Kevran's ship slowly. It took some time, but it had finally worked its way out from under the tree that Tendou had pinned on it.

Kevran looked on with disbelief as his minion wandered back onto the bridge, obviously defeated. "Unbelievable…One pathetic earth creature with fancy toys was too much for you…" He noticed the raptor was not with the T-rex. "I lost track of your playmate's signal a while ago…what happened to him?

The T-rex made a simple throat cutting gesture, indicating that the raptor had been dispatched.

The Impactor sighed and lowered his head. "My design could have stood a little more fine tuning before I left, I can tell now…" He then shrugged it off. He still had plenty of chances to make this thing right…but he had to be careful about it, as his supply of the "Symbiosis" strain was not unlimited, and he had no idea of anyone getting wise to what he was doing so soon.

That Tendou, and his new suit, he figured, even if he did have his hands full with the Kaixa gear, would still pose a potential threat to his whole plan as long as he was among the living.

"Whoever made that suit…" He pondered to himself. "Has some quality material at their disposal…if I could just get my hands on a sample, just a single microchip…there might be a way I could somehow duplicate the technology, like I did with Kaixa…take some of the strain off my supply of Symbiosis…"

He continued to ponder this notion, vanishing into the hallways once more…


	8. Gattack!

Ali and Littlefoot hurried up to Petrie's home along with Shorty and many of the others. After relating each others odd tales, the two had gotten word that Pterano was finally waking up after being asleep for so long. The two teen longnecks ran into the rocky area as they found the older Flyer propped up against a boulder, enjoying a slice of fruit that Petrie's mother had given him.

"Mmm…" he spoke softly. "I remember now…the taste…it's amazing how you look at certain things after you've been out as long as I have…" he looked at his fruit, lost in thought. "Makes you appreciate life just a little more."

"Pterano?…" Littlefoot spoke softly to him, finally getting him to look up and acknowledge his visitors.

"Oh…" Pterano smiled a bit. "Hello there…" he looked around weakly. "Have you seen Petrie?"

Littlefoot winced just a little, as Ali wondered whether or not to tell him about what she saw.

"Pterano…" Petrie's mother spoke to him gently. "You need to rest…I'm sure Petrie will be back soon. I told you, that creature I saw in the red armor is out looking for him."

Pterano nodded slowly, leaning his head back to rest some more, as Littlefoot looked over to Petrie's mother. "Excuse me…do you think we could speak outside for a moment…"

"Of course…" she responded…she walked with the two longnecks, moving past Petrie's siblings, as they all found a private spot to talk.

"How's he doing?" Littlefoot enquired of Pterano.

Petrie's mother smiled a bit. "He seems to be in decent spirits…he's still in some pain, but I have ways to help him around that part." She hugged herself some. "I just hope Petrie comes back soon…I don't think either of us can take much more of this."

Ali swallowed a bit as she heard this, before speaking up. "I…I don't know if Petrie's going to be coming back anytime soon…"

Petrie's mother blinked a little. "What do you mean?…"

Ali sighed. She figured it was best she heard about this now… "I ran into Petrie while I was still with my herd…"

"You did?" Petrie's mother responded in surprise.

Ali nodded. "Yes…and he had possession of a very powerful weapon…" she looked her in the eyes now. "Your son is very different now…see, I think he believes Pterano is dead, and he's developed a grudge against the Sharpteeth for it…he's been going around, killing them with this weapon."

"No…" She shook her head as she heard this. "Not my Petrie…it's not true…"

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Flyer…" Ali spoke again. "But I saw him myself…he used this weapon to kill a whole pack of smaller sharpteeth all by himself."

"No….No!" Petrie's mother began to rock back and forth, clutching her face a little. "I didn't raise him like that! What's possessed him to do these horrible things?…I never liked the sharpteeth, but this…" she began to sob as Petrie's siblings ran into the area, hearing her.

"What did you tell her?" A brother spoke up, shocked.

"Get out of here right now!" A sister yelled, demandingly. "You're no longer welcome in this home!"

Ali and Littlefoot simply nodded and left, without any protest. The younger flyers all comforted their mother as she quickly tried to get a hold of her emotions.

"What's wrong, mom?" The same brother asked. "What did they say to you?"

The mother flyer simply waved her hands at them all. "It's all right, it's nothing…now back to attending to your Uncle…"

They all nodded and did just that…as Littlefoot and Ali quickly left the area at the same time.

"Are you sure that was wise?" Littlefoot asked her. "She was already in a delicate situation there…"

Ali sighed again. "I know…I just didn't feel right in holding that information back."

Littlefoot nodded slowly. "Well…speaking of information…is there anything else you know about this red armored fellow? You said you saw him in action, right?"

Ali nodded gently. She had told him about Kabuto, but had kept her part of the bargain with Tendou, and said nothing of him specifically. "I did…but it wasn't for very long, and he vanished pretty quickly after that….all I know is that he's trying to take out all those other creatures I told you about…the ones that look like Impactors."

Littlefoot nodded again as he walked off with her. "Still…something about all this seems weird…and I still haven't quite figured out what it is…Oh, if only the Neo-Spirit were still here." He sighed a bit and chuckled.

Ali giggled and nodded as she walked off with him. She remained quiet about what she knew; hoping Tendou would do the right thing one of these days…

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Meanwhile, Tendou was busy with his own immediate concerns, walking over to the rejuvenation tank that Ruby was now floating inside of. The same mask that had covered Tendou's face during his extensive regeneration was now over hers, giving her an air source to breathe as she slept.

Chomper was sitting on a table in the middle of the large room, looking at Ruby every so often, but also at the young longneck that had saved them both. He still remembers the feeling of absolute astonishment that swept over him once Tendou transformed out of his armor when they came aboard…something about his face was odd…but also somehow familiar.

"How's she doing?" He asked Tendou, just trying to get him to turn around for a moment.

"Oh…she's stable." Tendou smiled, turning and walking to Chomper. "I'm more interested in you at the moment, though?…how can you speak, as if you were one of my kind?"

Chomper chuckled a bit. "It's a long story but…a longneck hatched me."

Tendou cocked an eyebrow. "A longneck?"

Chomper laughed. "I know…he was still pretty young when it happened, but he did a decent job, until he found my parents for me."

"I see…" Tendou chuckled a bit, stretching out on the same table.

"You want to talk about interesting though…" Chomper mused. "I'd heard about this…vessel through some of the stories that circulated outside of the valley…but I didn't know there was a longneck living on it."

Tendou smiled as he lay back a little. "Well…I haven't been here for long…the Neo-Spirit just recently nursed me back to health, and gave me the power to deal with this whole mess we're in now."

"And how come it did all this for you?" Chomper enquired. "What makes you so special?"

Tendou tilted his head back and sighed. "It's a long story…" he then remembered something that had been bugging him about this most recent situation, and sat up again. "Say…when Petrie tried to take you out, he seemed…a bit hesitant about the whole thing…what's going on with that?"

"Long Story…I don't feel like getting into it now." Chomper simply responded. Tendou nodded gently as he let it go for now. Chomper too had simply assumed now that Tendou had heard Petrie say his own name, thus his own knowledge of it. He knew for a fact that Littlefoot didn't know any other longnecks his age other than Ali, Rhett, and Shorty.

"So what's the deal with him?" Chomper asked about Petrie, getting to another obvious question. "Why is he so bent on killing me?"

Tendou sighed and stretched out a bit. "I'm afraid we're dealing with one screwed up individual who has a grudge against your kind…see, he thinks his uncle died in a sharptooth attack. He's alive, but I haven't gotten the chance to tell him that…I doubt he'd believe me at this point anyway."

Chomper nodded just a bit. "And where did he get all that stuff he was using against me and Ruby?"

"He stole it…" Tendou spoke, rising again. "From the inside of my enemy's ship."

"Wait…" Chomper furrowed his brow. "Your enemy? You mean there's somebody else involved in all this too?"

Tendou nodded as he revealed this to him as well. "A very crafty Impactor warlord, whose been trying to harvest Dinosaurs and turn them into an army of hybrids loyal to him."

Chomper just nodded quickly…he really didn't want to hear much more of this, as he walked closer to the tank and looked in on Ruby. The Neo-Spirit was working overtime on the Oviraptor, patching up the wound in her side.

"How's she doing?" Tendou asked the computer for Chomper.

"We're making progress…" the computer responded as its metal arms made adjustments from the ceiling above the tank. "It's going to take some time, but I believe this creature will live."

"Good…" Tendou then looked to Chomper. "I'll talk to you some more later…In the meantime, I'd better go out and see if I can find any sign of Kevran, or Petrie." He then began to walk towards the jet streamer once more.

"Oh, Tendou…" The Neo-Spirit called to him. "You can give the vehicle a rest. I finally got the transporters back online." The units had been on the fritz for quite some time, as a result of the ship nearly being crushed by a comet while still in space.

"Great news…" Tendou smiled. "Then send to me to anyplace where you've detected Kevran's ship or his minions recently…"

With that, his form was suddenly enveloped in light, and shot out of the room, taking him away from the ship. Chomper watched with interest at first, before his attention fully turned back to Ruby.

He stood there silently for a few moments, before a sudden noise made him jump. He turned to see what looked like a blue stag beetle hovering around him, making bizarre beeping and clicking noises.

"Don't worry…" The Neo-Spirit spoke. "It's not going to hurt you…in fact…it seems rather interested in you?"

"Interested?" Chomper blinked a bit as he stood perfectly still.

"Tendou might not approve…but I created the thing…" The computer spoke once again, before it suddenly dropped something towards Chomper with a metal arm from above. The teen sharptooth reached out instinctively, as he caught a belt, one very much like Tendou's.

"What's this?" Chomper enquired, looking over the belt slowly.

"Just put it on…" The Neo-Spirit warmly replied. "And I'll show you the rest…"

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It didn't take long for Tendou to find trouble in the mysterious beyond. He was hot on the trail of what looked like a family of T-rexes on the run from something…he only needed to wager one guess as to what it was. He quickly summoned his beetle and transformed into Kabuto once more, casting off his heavy armor and quickly running in the direction the series of tracks led.

A male and female T-Rex were running like mad, with their two children in tow, trying to get away from Petrie, in hot pursuit with his blaygun drawn, firing. The rapid fire energy bullets had already cut down several other friends of the family, as they all ran out from a heavily forested area into an open meadow.

Petrie growled and ran to keep up with them, cocking his blaygun for another barrage…that was until another force descended on the family.

The mother and father both felt their feet suddenly being grabbed by the T-rex dinopactor, and by his new partner, a dinopactor made from a rogue triceratops that Kevran had happened upon. It's horns were now coated in a tough metal alloy, as its black impactor armor shined in the light. A new Raptor dinopactor, and more giga fighters also surrounded their children.

Kevran soon stepped out to confront Petrie. "Well hello there…"

"Move aside…" Petrie spoke as he held his weapon. "I have some cleaning up to do."

The impactor shook his head. "Oh no, my friend…you're welcome to go out and randomly kill some other creatures, but I must insist on keeping at least some of them alive for stock…wouldn't have much of an army then, would I?"

Petrie growled and aimed his blaygun at one of the adult sharpteeth. "You don't get to tell me who I can and can't kill!"

Kevran quickly grabbed Petrie's arm, pulling it away just as he fired, making him miss. "And you don't get to tell me who I can't keep alive for my own purposes!"

The two stared each other down, about ready to throw down right there…Tendou watched from behind some rocks in his armor, waiting for the right moment to strike…Not knowing that somebody else would beat him to the punch.

"ENOUGH!" Petrie and Kevran heard an enraged voice yell out to them. They all turned to see someone walking out from behind another set of boulders, as Tendou looked out too, seeing another familiar face…

Chomper walked slowly, a determined look in his eyes. He had watched the capture of the sharptooth family, and the argument between Petrie and Kevran, until he could take no more. He also now wore the same belt from moments ago on his middle.

"I've heard enough from you…both of you" He looked towards Kevran "…talking about my own kind as if we're slaves to be exploited" he then turned to Petrie "…or fodder for you to kill…just like this family…or Ruby…it's UNFORGIVABLE!" He roared out.

Petrie looked on, stunned, as Kevran stepped back, looking more interested than threatened. Chomper then shot his hand out to the sky, summoning something in the distance. The blue beetle that Tendou had seen many times before suddenly flew in from the trees where it had been hiding, and landed right in the teen t-rex's hand.

He looked to the beetle for a moment, and ahead to his opponents. "Henshin…" The beetle blipped a little as he slipped it into the middle of his belt, clicking into its place. "HENSHIN!" a computerized voice spoke, which sounded more light and dynamic than Kabuto's computer, and echoed lightly as it spoke.

Tendou watched on as Chomper's form changed, covering in the heavy armor of his "masked form" as it shone, blue and silver in color with a red visor on the helmet, the arrangement hissing lightly as it clasped into place, complete with two powerful guns mounted on his shoulders.

"Gattack…" Tendou spoke softly, recognizing the form.

Petrie simply stepped back a moment, watching what would soon transpire as the giga fighters ran over to confront this new fighter. Before they could even get to Chomper though, he held up his fists, yelling out in a rage as he stood his ground and fired powerful blasts from the guns on his shoulders. A few of the fighters jumped out of the way as the shots hit one unlucky robot, making it blow up instantly.

The new raptor dinopactor leaped into action, slashing at Chomper with its wrist claws, and only managing to graze his armor a few times. Chomper quickly let the beast have it with a strong punch to the gut, throwing it off to the side as it rolled. He then clashed with the triceratops, trading a few punches and shoves with it, before repulsing it with a few more blasts from his shoulder guns, making the creature cover itself as it retreated with the raptor.

The family of sharpteeth used this moment to run away from the scene, still in Petrie's sights though. He used this moment to cock his blaygun once more, and take aim…before something slammed into him from the side, making him fall away with a grunt.

The flyer in the Kaixa gear scrambled back to his feet, seeing that it was a fast acting Chomper who had stopped him, his shoulder guns smoking. The two looked across at each other for the longest time, before Chomper suddenly saw someone walking onto the scene…

"Move…" Tendou spoke as he walked closer to Petrie. "I'll take care of it…" Petrie sneered under his helmet as he prepared himself for another attack.

"Wait!" Chomper put up his hand. "Let me handle this…" he nodded to Tendou slowly. "Please…"

Petrie looked between the both of them, preparing to defend himself either way, as Tendou considered things for a moment…then slowly nodded to Chomper. "Very well…" He then slowly stepped back.

Chomper looked straight ahead at Petrie. He then reached down and partially opened the jaws of the beetle on his belt with a click. A loud pulsing noise went through the Gattack armor as the heavy parts began to detach themselves from him partially.

"Cast off!" Chomper yelled as he pulled back the jaws completely. The striking, dynamic voice of Gattack's computer shouted. "CAST OFF!" in the same echoing fashion, as the heavy armor blasted off Chomper, forcing Petrie to block as some of it flew towards him.

Chomper now stood in a slimmer form of the Gattack armor, shining mostly in blue now as his red visor was even more exposed, curving blades now perched on his shoulders instead of guns. At the same time, two slender, jaw-like horns rose up from his shoulders and clamped themselves onto the sides of his helmet, completing the transition.

"CHANGE STAG BEETLE." The computer spoke once more, as Petrie uncovered himself with his arms, and faced down his opponent once more, extracting the blade section on his weapon once more.

Chomper was ready for him, though, as he quickly sprung into action. He ran towards Petrie as he placed his hands on the hilts of the blades on his shoulders, and pulled the weapons free from their spots. He swung for Petrie's head with one as the Flyer ducked, and slashed at his side with the other, scoring a slight hit. Petrie spun out of the way, and tried to kick Chomper away, only to see him sidestep the kick and slash with his left blade, making the right side of his helmet spark.

Petrie growled as this hurt him slightly, and ran in for a powerful upward diagonal slash with his blaygun. Chomper easily avoided this move, and launched into a frenzy with his blade weapons, swinging each one diagonally as they cut into Petrie's chest armor over and over again, making sparks fly every where as the crazed flyer yelled out in pain, finding himself in a precarious position for the first time in a while.

He then brought up his blaygun as Chomper tried to score a double hit with both his blades, catching them on the sword section of his weapon. A fierce struggle occurred from their as each side pushed with great strength, sparks just showering from the clashing of both weapons.

Chomper then found an opening, and quickly pushed down towards the ground with his wrists, allowing him a split second to come up with his blades, slicing them upward in a cross cutting motion as they sliced into parts of Petrie's chest. Petrie groaned a bit as he fell back, only to be met with a jump kick right in the face for his trouble.

Chomper stood over Petrie as he twirled his blades, holding one in the air, and the other towards his middle. Tendou watched the whole thing. He was surprised that Chomper was able to pick this up so quickly, but he also knew better than to ever doubt the Neo-Spirit's ability to work miracles.

He didn't have much time to admire Chomper however, as the T-rex dinopactor came out from nowhere and tackled him. Kevran had ordered it to stay behind as the others left, and take advantage whenever it found a moment.

Chomper looked down at the weakened Petrie, pondering the next move before hearing the sounds of struggle behind him. He turned to see Tendou now fighting with the dinopactor, which gave Petrie the distraction he needed, simply getting up and running off now.

Tendou kicked and punched at the T-rex, as Chomper turned to see Petrie fleeing…he considered chasing him for a moment…but he then turned his attention back to the dinopactor…there was no way he was going to let Kevran continue to exploit another one of his own kind.

Tendou spun and kicked at the T-rex a few more times, before Chomper suddenly lunged in from the side and delivered a hard right hand to the creature's jaw. The dinopactor grunted and fell back a little, as Chomper put his arm out in front of Tendou, motioning him to move aside.

The longneck nodded in his armor, and moved, letting Chomper prove himself. The Dinopactor flexed its muscles and growled as the new Gattack reached down and began to press a single button on the bottom of the blue beetle…

"1…2…3…" The computer spoke as he pressed it each time, charging himself up. "Rider kick!" Chomper quickly yelled, as he pulled the jaws of the beetle back to the original position.

"RIDER KICK!" The computer spoke once more, as energy charged up between Chomper's helmet horns and on his right foot. The dinopactor charged in to attack as Chomper ran in as well, waiting for the right moment…he then saw his chance, and jumped, bringing up his right foot, and delivering a nasty, leaping, right cross kick with the limb. The kick smacked right into the dinopactor's jaw, smashing it from the inside out as it screeched and fell back with a spin. Chomper landed softly, his right leg up in front of him as his left was in back of him, his back turned to the dinopactor as it fell to the ground and exploded.

Tendou nodded gently as he walked closer to Chomper. "Very good…quite an impressive display for a first time use…"

Chomper rose slowly as he nodded to his ally. "That computer of yours made some adjustments…it told me this thing is powered completely by my determination and confidence…as long as I focus that energy, everything becomes clear to me."

Tendou nodded again as he saw that Petrie had escaped once more. "You know, you could have gone after him…I was perfectly able of handling that thing by myself."

"I know…" Chomper nodded slowly. "But I thought if I just left you behind for my own interests, I wouldn't be much of a partner."

"Partner?" Tendou tilted his head.

"Yeah…" Chomper responded enthusiastically. "I know I can't take those guys on all by myself…And I know you've gotta be hurting for help sometimes in a situation like this…if you'll have me, that is…" He held up his right arm to Tendou…

Tendou pondered this for a moment. He wasn't sure that this spirited, but inexperienced fighter would be a good fit for Gattack at first…but if he was just going to ignore everything this fellow had just accomplished in the last few minutes, he realized, he was a fool…and Chomper was right…he was hurting for help.

"Why not…" Tendou smiled under his helmet, bringing up his own arm. The two locked hands together as they shook gently, sealing the deal as they became partners right there…Kevran would have to take special care now, as his plan now had two X factors staring him right in the face, their names being Kabuto and Gattack…


	9. Sins of The Father

Chomper ran back onto the ship after his first experience with the teleporter. He was nervous at first about being beamed up, but once he saw and felt how instantaneous the experience was, he shook it off quickly.

The Neo-Spirit was waiting for him, having prepared a platter of his favorite "groundcrawlers". The teen T-rex smiled widely upon entering and walked right up to the platform the computer set it on.

"Eat up…" It spoke gently. "Your body probably needs it after what you've just been through."

"It was scary…" Chomper nodded as he began to eat. "But it was exciting at the same time." Tendou walked in right about as he said the last part of his sentence.

Tendou smiled just a bit. "I'm glad you proved yourself worthy of handling Gattack, Chomper, and that you're enthusiastic about it." He spoke as he sat near the same platform. "But you're involved in some serious stuff right now…"

Chomper nodded gently as he munched on the bugs, while Tendou continued, letting his mind slip just a little. "I've seen about a million rookies get over-eager about their job, only to end up doing something that got them killed."

"Hmm?" Chomper looked up from his meal. "What do you mean? How long have you been involved in all this fighting?"

Tendou sighed and shook his head a little. "Way too long…" He tried to take his mind of the subject by walking with Chomper over to the tank where Ruby was still submerged.

"How's she doing?" He asked the Neo-Spirit.

"Most of the internal damage has been repaired." The computer replied. "I'll be patching up her epidermal layers in a little while, and we'll be finished."

Chomper walked up and put his hand on the glass, gazing in on his close friend.

"You hang in there, ok?…"

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Petrie stumbled down into a quarry nearby, resting and recovering from his most recent fight. He was having enough trouble with Kabuto getting in the way of his mission, and now Gattack had come along to further complicate things. It was clear that he couldn't defeat both of these fighters on his own, even with the power of Kaixa.

"Should I go back to him? Make amends?" He idly wondered to himself, thinking of Kevran. His mission memory device on his belt glowed a bit in the center, as if assisting him in his thought process now.

"No…" He shook his head quickly. "He'll want the belt back, fool…" He sighed and rubbed his scarred face with a wing, the belt still around his waist…it weighed him down so heavily at times…but he was so attached to it now. He almost felt as if taking the device off would be ripping off a part of his body almost.

He rubbed his head once more, closing his eyes…before a single thought made him open them back up. He suddenly remembered something, a very recent memory.

"Yes…" he got back to his feet slowly. "She'll help me…once I've explained everything…she'll help me."

He then extended his wings, and flew off in a whole new direction. "She'll help me…or else I'll take what she has, and help myself…"

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In the omnipresent daylight of the valley, Tricia frolicked freely along the meadows near the trees, as her older sister watched on, with her stepmother, Tria, not far behind.

"Tricia…" Tria called to her. "Remember not to go too far in that direction…you know those trees are starting to rot."

"I'll remind her, Tria…" Cera smiled a bit as she walked a bit closer, watching Tricia rub her single horn along a rock for a second, a sharp contrast to the two other growing horns that her teen sister was now sporting.

Tricia furrowed her brow at Cera. "I don't know why you still won't call her mom…"

"We've been through this before…" Cera sighed, then giggled a bit. "You came from Tria, so she's your mom…I came from my mom, so she was my mom."

"Why should it matter which mom you came from though?" Tricia sharpened her horn a bit more. "She takes care of you, like she's done with me…she's fed you, like me, nursed you when sick, like me, made you feel better when you were sad, like me…she's just as much your mom as she is mine? So why not give her the proper title?"

"Oh, Tricia…" She thought to herself as she shook her head, still smiling. Tricia didn't know the pain that came with losing a biological mother, Cera felt, and thus could never understand why she felt that her late mother was the only one she could ever call mom.

"Can't you just let a girl keep her old habits?" Cera simply responded with the same smile. "I've been calling her Tria for years, and-"

"Tria?" A deep voice suddenly came out from behind the trees they were near. The two girls jumped a bit and slowly began to back away from the area. Tria noticed this, and tilted her head a little.

"Everything ok over there?" She asked, beginning to approach them both.

"Tria?" The same deep voice called out from behind the trees, a pair of glowing green eyes suddenly appearing from the shadows.

Tria blinked a little bit, getting a better look inside the trees, before her eyes went wide. "Oh my goodness…"

Cera and Tricia wanted to get a good look now, as they all saw a mysterious, two-legged figure emerge from the trees…with the head of a three-horn. It was the same rogue that had seen action with Kevran earlier, at the time Gattack first came to life.

Tria took a good look at the Dinopactor's face, and instantly recognized him. "Remo…"

Remo smiled just a little as he stepped out a little further. "I'm happy to see that life in this paradise hasn't made you forget the times before, Tria…" He then sat casually on a rock nearby.

"Tria…" Cera spoke softly. "Who is this?"

Tria responded just as gently. "He's someone that Topsy and I knew a long time ago…an old friend."

"Friend…" Remo scoffed a little. "An interesting choice of words."

Tria gave him a firm look. "Now you know full well that I had nothing to do with what happened to you…"

"What happened?" A gruff, male voice suddenly came from behind the three females, as Topsy walked onto the scene, his eyes narrowed. "What are we talking about here?"

Remo then slowly stood back up as Topsy spotted him and froze right in his tracks. Tria walked over to him as Tricia quickly darted behind them both, freaked out now as Cera just looked on, curiously.

"Is that who I think it is?" A genuinely surprised Topsy spoke.

"Yes…" Tria nodded. "Remo has returned."

Remo bowed his head politely as Topsy came a bit closer, inspecting his new form. "Stars above us, Remo…what happened to you?"

The Dinopactor looked over his armored limbs, and smiled back up to Topsy. "Nothing bad…I've been improved, in fact."

"Improved?" Topsy was on the verge of chuckling now as he looked down at Remo. "You're much shorter than me now…"

"True…" Remo nodded as moved over to an old tree still in the ground. "But I'm also ten times stronger than you…" he demonstrated by grabbing the tree and pulling it straight out of the ground…he handled the thing like a pro, swinging it around a bit, making everyone duck, before he swiftly tossed it away.

Cera now backed off as well, while Tospy shook his head slowly. Deep down, he knew why Remo had come to him. "Remo…" he spoke slowly. "I'm sorry for what happened, but I did what I felt was right at the time…"

"Rubbish!" Remo shouted back to him, scowling with great anger. "Leaving me at the mercy of those sharpteeth…leaving me to watch helplessly as my dear wife was murdered in front of me, before she could even lay the eggs of my children! Tell me how that's right to you!"

"I couldn't abandon my own growing family for your sake…The herd felt that you had disgraced them!" Topsy retorted.

"I was trying to help a poor family of longnecks!" Remo shouted loud enough that nearly everyone in the valley could hear them.

"Remo…please…" Topsy lowered his head, a feeling of true guilt and shame coming over him. "I…I was different in those days…I didn't know what I know now."

"It's True, Remo." Tria nodded as she walked closer. "He's changed…quite a bit. I think you'd be surprised if you really got to know him now."

"Be that as it may…" Remo's tone grew darker. "It still doesn't change the fact that you are still alive, and Dina is not."

Topsy began to breathe harder as he shook his head, remembering his first mate. "You think you're the only one whose suffered? I lost my Lucy before she even got to see this wonderful place. Even now I can't go a single day without that thought going through my head."

"Topsy…" Tria spoke softly, nuzzling him as he fought back a single tear at this moment. Cera watched on before lowering her head, the pain of the past returning as Trica comforted her as best she could.

"So…you're suffering for your sins already…" Remo looked at the family, before eyeing Cera and Tricia. "But I'm afraid you haven't fully paid for them yet." He began to walk towards the teen and her younger sister. "See, I lost my children before they were even eggs, so in order to truly square things with you…I'm going to have to kill yours as well."

Topsy suddenly felt his sadness turn to anger, as he jumped right in front of Remo. "You'll do NO such thing!" He growled.

Remo then simply reached up and grabbed Topsy by his nose horn, pulling his head down with amazing strength as he grabbed one of the other horns with his left hand.

"Move…" He simply spoke, before throwing Topsy off to the side like a rag doll. Cera bolted right back up with Tricia, figuring out where to run off to, as Tria attended to her dazed mate. Remo then reached behind him and pulled a weapon, a large axe with a black handle, off a section of his back, one of his many new Dinopactor parts.

Before Cera could figure out what to do in order to get away from this guy, she something come out from the distance and strike Remo across the back, making it spark. It was the Gattack unit.

Chomper had come by at Tendou's request, in order to investigate an odd signal that the Neo-Organism had detected earlier. He held out his hand as the large blue stag beetle flew back towards him. He caught it swiftly and held it at his side.

"Chomper!" A surprised Cera yelled, noticing the teen sharptooth instantly.

"Good to see you guys again." Chomper nodded to the family, seeing an angered Remo setting his sights right towards him. "I just wish it were under better circumstances." He then slipped the stag beetle into his belt's front.

"HENSHIN"

Cera and the others watched in awe as he shifted into Gattack's masked form once more. He took aim at Remo and fired with his large shoulder cannons. The dinopactor was ready though, as he dodged and deflected the shots with his axe, before charging at him with his weapon upraised.

Chomper quickly dodged as Remo swung his axe to the side, aiming for his head. Instead, he managed to cut through a tree behind Chomper, making it fall down towards him. Chomper quickly rolled out of the way as it crashed to the earth, and pulled back the beetle's jaws into "cast off" position.

Remo saw pieces of the heavy armor flying away behind the downed tree, also hearing the computer say "CHANGE STAG BEETLE" as he stood at the ready with his axe. He didn't see through the dust in the air that Chomper had already hopped to the other side in his quicker form, and had come up right behind him.

Chomper let Remo have it with a single slash across the back with one of his blades. More sparks flew as Remo growled and turned around, swinging again with his axe, downward this time. Chomper jumped out of the way as Remo buried the axe into the ground, running back towards the changed three-horn and slashing him across the face with his right blade.

Remo grunted as he fell back from his axe, no match for Chomper in the speed department as he watched him twirl and slash with the blades. He blocked and dodged as best he could using his heavily armored wrists, and then found an opening. He reached down and punched Chomper hard in the stomach with his left fist, before giving him a hard right hook.

Chomper almost did a 180 in the air from this powerful blow, landing hard as his blades left his hands, panting and groaning a bit as he lay on the ground now.

Remo cracked his knuckles a bit and growled, pulling his axe out of the ground as he twirled it once, heading right for Chomper as he prepared to chop the teen T-rex right in half.

Chomper still had plenty of energy left, though, and waited for the right moment. He then suddenly reached down and tossed one of his blades right at Remo. The weapon now twirled like a boomerang, as it cut repeatedly into his chest plate, making him grunt and yell out in pain as he fell back.

The young warrior then made the weapon fly back to him, before he quickly got onto his feet, and powered up for his rider kick once more. Remo stood in front of him, getting ready to slash his axe at Chomper once more, as energy surged between the horns of the Gattack armor, and in his right foot.

Just as Chomper was about to make his running jump though, something else came out from nowhere, and struck him right in the side. Chomper grunted and fell away from Remo's line of sight, as he turned to see that what hit him was a single blast from Kevran's gun.

Remo turned to see a very displeased Impactor walking towards him, with two Raptor dinopactors at his side now. "Who said you could leave the base?"

"Master…" Remo protested. "I've been waiting for this moment for a long time!"

"And you can wait a little longer." Kevran scolded him. "Your duties come first…now go back to the ship and perform those repairs I asked you to do, before I consider having you thrown into the incinerator."

Remo sighed and nodded gently. "Yes sir…" He then walked away, pressing a button on his armor that made him teleport away from the scene. He was among the first Dinopactors to be given that ability, and he wasn't shy about using it.

"I'd consider finishing you right here and now…" Kevran looked over to the downed Chomper. "But at the moment, I have far more pressing matters to attend to…however, since you're a bit exhausted at the moment."

Kevran walked over to the weakened warrior. Before Chomper could even protest, he suddenly reached under one of his shoulder pads, and quickly pulled out a small computer chip.

"Thank you…" Kevran spoke again, before quickly leaving the scene with his two dinopactors.

Chomper breathed heavily as he pulled out the Gattack unit, letting it fly away as he changed back. He stretched out behind the downed tree as he saw Cera and Tricia running right to his side.

"Chomper!" Cera called to him. "Are you ok?"

"I'll live…" Chomper smiled as he exhaled softly.

"What's going on here?" a confused Tricia furrowed her brow. "You suddenly show up, and can change into the kind of suit that Cera used to have…and you're fighting guys who look just like the last guys who came in here a while ago."

Chomper stood up slowly. "I'd love to stay here and explain everything." He started. "But I'll have to leave that for another time…right now I need to go see a friend of mine, and ask him why he didn't come to help me this time."

The two girls just blinked at him as he then pressed a button on his belt, teleporting away from the Valley.

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In another section of the Valley, Ducky was freshening by the side of a pond, cooling herself off from the heat, before she suddenly heard footsteps behind her.

She looked up, and then slowly turned around, shocked to see the scarred face of a missing friend looking right at her.

"Petrie…" She spoke softly.

"Hello Ducky…" Petrie smiled as he walked closer, though it was a more ominous smile. "I appreciate you not saying my name out loud, because I'm here for one thing, and one thing only…"

Ducky furrowed her brow. "And what might that be?"

Petrie smiled again. "Delta…"


	10. Not Completely Gone

"What kind of a partnership do you call this?" Chomper asked out loud as he stormed back onto the ship of the Neo-Spirit. Tendou was given a brief start as he looked up from a monitor and back over at the teen sharptooth as he walked onto the bridge, demanding answers.

"Chomper…" Tendou spoke firmly. "I told you, I needed to keep on eye on Kevran and his ship…I need to get a fix on his pattern, and decide the best course of action for taking him out."

"And you couldn't come away from that monitor for one minute to help me?" Chomper asked; his eyes wide open. "I had my hands full out there. I would have appreciated some help!"

Tendou sighed and lowered his head, seeing no point in lying to him any longer. "I…can't go back into that valley. I have my reasons."

"Why?" A befuddled Chomper asked him as he walked up closer to the teen longneck. "What could you possibly have to fear from that place?"

Tendou gritted his teeth a little, not really wanting to get into the subject, and still holding back. "I've hurt some of the ones who live there…in the past."

Chomper blinked a little as he heard this, scratching his head. "Who, exactly?"

Tendou kept his mouth shut…Until the pangs of conscience urged him to speak up. "See…there's this one family…"

His confession was suddenly interrupted by a lot of beeping, followed by the whirring of a pair of mechanical arms, moving right over the healing tank where Ruby was being kept.

Chomper saw the movement of the arms, and all thoughts immediately turned to his friend. He ran over and watched the arms dip into the tank, and slowly begin to lift Ruby's repaired body from the liquid. Once the arms had placed her onto the nearby table, a third, sleeker robotic arm reached over, and gingerly removed the oxygen mask from her face.

Tendou walked over slowly, sighing a bit in relief as Ruby coughed a little bit, taking her first non-assisted breath in quite a while. Chomper reached over to his friend's hand, and held it gently.

"Ruby…thank the stars you're all right…" Chomper smiled.

"Chomper…" Ruby spoke, weakly at first. She woke up quickly, however, once she opened her eyes, and got a good look at everything that was around her. There were So many strange things…still so alien to her, as she quickly sat up for a good look.

"Where in the world are we?" She asked, a sense of real anxiety in her voice.

"Hey, hey, don't worry…" Chomper patted her hand, reassuringly. "You're among friends here."

Tendou finally stepped forward, seeing this as a good time to introduce himself to the oviraptor. "Glad to see you're on the mend." He smiled.

Ruby's eyes went wide as she looked at the longneck walking right towards her and Chomper. Her mouth went lip for a moment, as her mind searched for a name to go with the face. "Littlefoot?…"

Tendou froze for a moment, not quite sure how to respond to that, as Chomper quickly laughed the notion off, not giving it any more thought then a simple case of mistaken identity.

"No, no…" Chomper shook his head. "This is Tendou…he's the one who saved us from Petrie, and took you into this place to heal from your wounds."

Ruby nodded, as she looked around the bridge of the ship, still only slightly nervous. "And what, exactly, is this place?"

"Well…" Tendou mused as he looked around. "Long story short…this is the place that's gonna save you…all of you."

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"Delta?" Ducky responded to Petrie, a bit worried. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on, Ducky…" Petrie grinned as he shook his head. "Don't pretend anymore…I was there, watching all that time ago, when you carried that duplicate Mihara secretly gave to you, and buried it in that very pond." He pointed to the source of water.

Ducky breathed in sharply as she heard this, looking over the scarred face of her longtime friend, smiling the kind of smile that she had never seen from him before. It made her very uncomfortable.

"What exactly do you want with it, Petrie?" She asked him calmly.

"Well…" Petrie spoke matter-of-factly as he strolled around the duckbill. "I've discovered lately that my mission is going to be rather difficult to accomplish…without a little assistance, that is."

"And what is this 'mission' you're talking about?" Ducky furrowed her brow a little.

Petrie smiled even wider. "We're going to free ourselves, Ducky…" He spoke in a sickeningly joyous tone. "We're going to free all the innocent dinosaurs on this earth from the terror of the Sharpteeth…and we will not be finished until every last one of the murdering bastards have drawn their last breath."

"Petrie…" Ducky spoke in a shocked, breathless tone of voice as she slowly shook her head, scarcely believing what was coming out of her friend's mouth. "I know we've always lived in fear of most sharpteeth, and that we'd do anything to keep them away from us…but that's going way too far."

"No Ducky…" Petrie started to scowl now. "THEY have gone too far…I've seen far too many innocents die in jaws of those creatures, my dear uncle included!"

"You're uncle is ALIVE!" Ducky shouted, hoping to knock some sense into the flyer.

But Petrie's scowl only grew deeper, and more ferocious. "How DARE you…" He growled. "How dare you concoct such lies, simply to keep me from performing a duty to which you seem to object!"

"It's not a lie Petrie…" Ducky responded, her tone becoming more and more desperate. "Just come back to your home, and you can see for yourself!"

"Quit trying to distract me…" Petrie growled again, taking out the Kaixa driver once more. "If you're not willing to assist me…" He began, punching in the 913 code. "Then I'll simply have to take your weapon, and give it to someone more willing to help."

He then pressed the enter key, as the dark sounding computer spoke, "STANDING BY…" He then calmly brought the device to his lips, spoke "Henshin", and slipped it into his belt. "COMPLETE"

Ducky quickly dove into the water as Petrie transformed into Kaixa once again. He then took out his blaygun and cocked it, getting ready to fire as he walked to the edge of the pond, and aimed carefully into the water.

But before Petrie could get a single shot off, Chomper jumped in from out of nowhere and kicked his opponent. His armor was already in its sleeker "cast off" form, his stolen backup processor having been quietly replaced by the Neo-Spirit, who had no time to ask questions about it.

Petrie grunted and turned to face the form of the Gattack armor once more, scowling under his helmet as he slipped the mission memory into the base, making the sword section shoot out with a hum.

"Ready for round two, creep?" Chomper shouted, pulling out the blades from his shoulders and twirling them.

"Last time, Chomper, you had the element of surprise on your side…" Petrie walked in calmly with his blaygun ready to strike. "Rest assured, I've taken great care not to underestimate you any further."

Chomper had heard enough as he moved in with both his blades, trying to cross-slash them across Petrie's head. Petrie quickly swung his blaygun upward, and caught the smaller weapons right on his glowing yellow blade. He then quickly extended his right leg in a sidekick, smacking Chomper right in his abdomen.

The teen sharptooth fell back slightly, but quickly steadied, as he once again twirled his blades. He now spun quickly and slashed with his left blade towards Petrie's chest plate, scoring a quick sparking hit as he spun again, and slashed towards his leg with the right blade.

Petrie saw this second move coming, and moved his leg swiftly, bringing it behind Chomper's own leg as he brought his right arm over his neck at the same time, sweeping the sharptooth's leg out from under him while bringing him down with the arm.

Chomper landed hard on the ground as Petrie then quickly brought over the hand on his same arm, and clasped it around his throat. Chomper kicked and choked a bit, dropping his blades and grabbing Petrie's arm, as the teen flyer tightened his grip, and used his left arm to bring over the blaygun, aiming the muzzle for his opponent's head.

"This would have been so much easier, had you not struggled…" Petrie grunted, getting ready to fire. "Time to say goodnight forever, old friend…"

Petrie then felt something strike his back suddenly…something sharp. He yelled out in pain as sparks shot from his back, letting go of Chomper and turning.

Tendou had suddenly appeared, wielding his dagger as he was also in his "cast off" form.

"Tendou!" Chomper shouted, as Petrie simply growled and rose to meet his original opponent once more. Tendou was ready for him as he weaved right and left, avoiding swings from Petrie's blaygun.

After one such swing, Tendou found an opening, and quickly caught his right arm under Petrie's left, and delivering to him several punches in the stomach with his left fist. He then used his strong left arm, and flipped Petrie over onto his back. Petrie hit fairly hard, but soon after rolled, and got up onto his feet, readying his gun to fire again as he caught his breath…

"Wait!" A familiar voice called to Chomper and Tendou from behind…Ducky had just emerged from the pond with a waterproof case, which bore the triangular symbol of Delta. She was now walking onto the scene from behind her allies, her eyes dead set on Petrie.

"Let me see if I can't bring him back down to earth…" She spoke to Tendou and Chomper, slapping on the belt of the Delta gear.

Chomper would have protested, but Tendou put a hand on his shoulder. "Come on…" He spoke to his partner. "Earlier, I detected some signals just outside this place, and we need to find out why Kevran stole that part from you, anyway. "

Both of them nodded to Ducky before running off, leaving her alone with Petrie. The still armored flyer shook his head slowly as she removed the Delta driver from her side.

"This is an unwise move, old friend…" He spoke. "The Ducky I know would do what was best to protect herself without conflict."

"And the Petrie I know would be above such horrible things as genocide." Ducky responded as she held the driver in her right hand. "…So much for past impressions, huh?"

The new driver had a slight change to it. It was now voice-activated, as she held the object, which looked like the holster of a gun, and spoke "Henshin" into it. "STANDING BY…" The computer spoke a second after she did, and made the usual powering up sounds as she connected the holster onto the rest of the gun, which was clamped onto the side of the belt.

"COMPLETE". Ducky held out her arms as the familiar white photon streams covered her form, and transformed it into a taller humanoid figure. Within a second, she was now in the black and white armor of Delta, the red eyes on her helmet glowing for a moment.

Petrie then cocked his blaygun, and prepared to fire once more…but now, something had come over him…something that he had not felt in a long time, and felt rather alien to him because of this…he was hesitating. But he wasn't exactly sure why.

"Come on…" Ducky walked closer to him. "You want to attack?…then attack!"

Petrie was then able to shake this feeling off for a moment, and fired at her. She promptly strafed off to the side, avoiding the shots as she suddenly ran around a tree, and quickly came out a petrie, taking him by surprise with a front kick before he could turn around fully and fire again.

Petrie grunted a bit and fell back, the sword section of his blaygun still present as he came at her again, slashing at her chest. Ducky grunted as he scored a quick hit, her chest sparking as she spun to avoid another slice, and withdrew the gun from her belt.

Her shots were dead on, as the lasers hit Petrie in both his shoulders and his chest. Petrie yelled out in pain and frustration as they singed slightly through his armor, making it smoke.

Ducky raised her gun slightly, falling back on her attacks for a moment, as she looked straight at her opponent. "Petrie…this unit has a new kick attack, very similar to the one the Faiz gear had…please don't make me use it on you." A tone of genuine concern was now in her voice. She really didn't want to finish Petrie off, but if she was forced to…

"Oh really?" Petrie steadied himself as he cocked his blaygun again. "What makes you think you'll have the time to pull it off in the first place?" He then let loose a rapid fire barrage of energy bullets. Ducky spun and dodged as best she could, but many of them managed to strike parts of her armor, on her hand and parts of her chest.

She grunted and yelled out a bit as he then ran in and took some vicious swipes at her with his blade. Ducky weaved and dodged a few more of the swipes, as one went over her head, then right towards her side. She was then able to move in close, and grab Petrie's gun, keeping his finger from squeezing the trigger with her own as she struggled with him, trying to keep the blade from moving towards her at the same time.

"This is useless!" Petrie grunted. "No matter how much you struggle, I will win. And I will punish all you know and love for refusing to ally yourself with me." He then grinned sickly under his helmet. "Maybe I'll start with your dear family…"

Ducky was absolutely shocked to hear this, and now felt an uncharacteristic rage boiling up from within her. The idea that he would even think of harming her family was just unthinkable, and it put her over the edge.

She then suddenly overpowered Petrie, her arms still locked with his as she pushed them up, and brought up her right leg in a hard front kick. The kick smashed right into Petrie's stomach, and was strong enough to actually dent the metal as she sent him flying.

Petrie had also let go of his blaygun, as it was now flying up in the air, moving back down towards Ducky. She caught the weapon, and quickly tossed it away, taking aim at Petrie with her own gun, and firing as he got back to his feet.

The flyer covered himself with his arms as he was struck a few more times, in the stomach again, then in the arm, and the leg. He tried to think of a way to reverse this, uncovering his face for a moment…before another blast struck him right in the left eye of his helmet.

Petrie howled out in pain as the sparks shot inward, burning parts of his face slightly as he hunched over and gripped the face of his helmet. Ducky watched, still in the throes of her anger of what he had said, as she brought the gun up to the side of her helmet, the mic still present on the holster.

"Kick!" She spoke into it, as the weapon powered up. "EXCEED CHARGE" the computer spoke, as she then slowly took aim at the weakened Petrie, getting ready to fire the pointer that would hold him in place for the kick…

"Wait!" She suddenly heard a voice calling to him. "Ducky, don't do it!"

Both she and Petrie looked up to see Petrie's mother running onto the scene. One of her other children had seen the whole confrontation happen from high up in the trees, and had rushed back to tell everyone else.

And she was not alone either, as she helped a limping Pterano who was at her side. He had recovered quite a bit now, but still had a little trouble moving.

"No…" A shocked Petrie looked at them both, awestruck. "No, it can't be…you died…I watched you." He simply stood, unable to do anything at this point.

"Petrie!" Pterano shouted out to him. "Stay this madness! Stifle it before you do even more you'll come to regret!"

"It…It…" Petrie spoke calmly now, but still with a torn mind. "It was all for you, Uncle…all for you…they've killed…so much killing…I just don't want it to happen anymore."

"Petrie…" Pterano breathed heavily as he clung to Petrie's mother's side. "Don't you see? How is what you're doing any different from what all the sharpteeth have done before? Attacking those that haven't provoked you…killing indiscriminately…can't you see that you've almost made yourself into one of THEM?"

Petrie's eyes went wide under his helmet as he heard this. Ducky just stood there, listening, still in her armor, as Petrie's mother became teary-eyed. "Please." She spoke. "Come home, son…just put this all behind you, and come home…don't hurt yourself, or us anymore."

Petrie lowered his head for a moment, as she and Pterano began to walk closer. Before they could embrace him, though, he suddenly raised his head up and held out his fists.

"aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" He suddenly screamed, his voice crying out in anger, but also with a touch of genuine shame. He then ran off, disappearing into the trees nearby.

"Petrie…" Pterano softly spoke, as he comforted his emotional sister as best he could. Ducky simply transformed out of her Delta form, and looked out into the distance…

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Onboard Kevran's ship, the impactor was slowly walking around in the lab, observing the giga-fighters and computers he had at work.

The study of the processor he stole from the Gattack armor had already yielded some useful information on how these new units were created. He was soon able to start a project of his own, one that he hoped would add extra protection to him and his plan.

He then looked down into a container where many computerized arms were at work, putting together a unit that resembled an insect, very similar to the Kabuto and Gattack units…only this one was in the shape of a scorpion.


	11. Parting of The Ways

Chomper followed Tendou quickly, both still in their armor as they searched the area outside of the valley.

"So, what happened to never setting foot in the valley?" Chomper asked, wondering why Tendou suddenly helped him.

"I just thought it over carefully." Tendou responded. "I finally decided, personal issues or not, you were right…I wouldn't be much of a partner to you if I kept myself from assisting you when you needed it."

Chomper nodded again as he walked with him around a large boulder. "So, what exactly are the personal issues?"

"Later…" Tendou changed the subject as he pointed out to a small entrance. "It looks like our target went in through there…we'd better hurry."

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Tria tended to the slightly shaken Topsy, who was still recovering from his confrontation with the transformed Remo. Trica sat by her mother's side, as Cera paced a little bit around her father's line of vision.

"Dad, who is this guy?" Cera demanded to know. "How come you never said anything about him before?"

"Cera…" Tria scolded her. "Leave your father alone. He's been through enough today."

"No…not quite yet." Topsy slowly shook his head. "After all this time, I think I do owe my daughter an explanation."

Tria just nodded as Cera sat down in front of her father's face, and waited expectantly.

"Remo…" Topsy began. "Used to be a member of my herd. We knew each other ever since we were younger, and I regarded him as my best friend."

Cera's eyes widened a bit. "Really? He sure wasn't acting like your best friend a moment ago."

Topsy sighed as he stretched out along the ground. "Yes…well, we had a bit of a falling out, you could say…see, when we were separated by that earthshake in our old home, Remo and his mate, Dina, started to preach understanding and interaction with all the other herds as a means of survival. But much of the old guard in my herd, including my mate, your mother, would not stand for such radical changes."

Tria continued to comfort him as he sighed long once more. "Then one day, your mother caught Remo and Dina interacting with a pair of elderly longnecks, helping them find food. We confronted Remo, and were about to shun him forever from the herd…until sharpteeth suddenly came out and attacked us."

Cera listened to her father intently as he continued. "Your mother fought valiantly, but the sharpteeth were too strong for her. They killed her right in the middle of a clearing. I mourned her while Remo and Dina tried to fight them off, both of them looking to me, yelling at me to go get others and help them…but I was blinded by my anger and sadness…I believed it was their fault my mate had died." He closed his eyes in guilt. "I left them, without calling for help…I left them both to be killed."

Tria leaned down and nudged her mate a bit. "Topsy…you have to remember, that was the old you that abandoned Remo…you've changed since then, I've seen it…if there were just some way you could show that to him, it might make him stop what he's doing."

"These longnecks…" Cera spoke up. "Would they have been anyone I knew?"

"As a matter of fact…" Topsy nodded. "They were your friend Littlefoot's grandparents…"

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Remo walked slowly onto the meadows, seeing the tracks of longnecks. He spotted Littlefoot's mother, asleep, and curled around a nest filled with eggs. He smiled lightly, before he came upon a shock. There were two mounds of stone, obviously erected in memorial of two longnecks that had recently passed on…and Remo figured out pretty quickly who they were.

"Well…" He sighed as he lowered his head. "I can see I came a little too late…" He kneeled by the makeshift monuments, and looked straight ahead at them both. "If only I could have seen the looks on your faces one more time…but, I can see that'll never happen now."

"Can I help you?" He heard a male voice call to him. He turned around, seeing Bron standing behind him, with Littlefoot and Ali, along with Shorty, approaching from behind. Ayla woke slowly as she raised her head quizzically, looking towards the three-horn in the form of a humanoid.

"My goodness…" Remo rose slowly, walking over to Bron. "You look just like him…your father."

"What?" Bron furrowed his brow. "Did you…know my parents?"

"I did…both Dina and I." He sighed and rubbed his head a little. "She'd pay her respects as well, had the sharpteeth not taken her."

Littlefoot immediately stepped forward, sensing something off about this fellow. "Who are you?" He asked. "And why do you have impactor symbols all over your body?" His sharp memory helped him to recognize him.

Remo smiled a bit as he looked over his body. "You wouldn't believe it…I mean, there I was, an abandoned, pathetic excuse for a three-horn, just wandering around the mysterious beyond, clutching onto any pleasant memories I had left…then boom, this two-legged fellow finds me, and zaps me with something, and I fall under his persuasion, before I finally transform."

"Another Impactor?" Ali's eyes went wide as she stayed behind Littlefoot.

Littlefoot looked over Remo's body and back up at his face. "Are there others like you?"

Remo nodded and smiled. "Yes…slowly but surely, we are growing in number. Sharptooth and leaf-eater, four-foot and two-foot…the boundaries are disappearing between all our kind…we are uniting!"

"Uniting?" Littlefoot shook his head. "Under the banner of the Impactors?"

"Lord Kevran is a visionary, my friend." Remo looked to the whole family now, and extended his large hand. "And I invite you all, as descendents of my old friends, to be the first to share in his new vision. You can all join, and become dinopactors, just like me!"

"No…" Bron stood right in front of Remo now. "I don't know what this lord Kevran has been telling you, but the Impactors are a very troublesome and twisted bunch, and they've caused enough pain to our family!" He shouted, remembering Logia. "We do NOT associate with their kind!"

Littlefoot watched closely, getting ready to warn his father about how he talked to Remo, before the Dinopactor scowled at him slowly.

"Just as intolerant, I see…" He slowly responded. "You're no better than Topsy!"

"Get out of here…" Bron lowered his head towards Remo's face. "Leave right now, before I do something I might regret…"

Remo looked right up at him. "You, my friend, are in no position to make threats to me!" He then suddenly pushed Bron's head down a bit with a strong left hand, before letting him have it with a hard right uppercut.

"Dad!" Littlefoot shouted as he ran to Bron's side. The angered Remo then set his sights on Ayla and her nest. The mother longneck stood her ground, growling a bit as Remo reached in back of him, and extracted his large axe.

Before he could make any moves, however, he suddenly heard a voice yelling "Nooooooo!" He turned to see Tendou in his armor, running far ahead of Chomper with his right arm extended.

Littlefoot and Ali looked up from tending to the dazed Bron, marveling at the two armored figures as they ran onto the scene. Remo simply reached into his pocket in response, pulling out a small globe and throwing it onto the ground. A squadron of giga-fighters suddenly emerged from it in a shaft of light, running towards Tendou and Chomper, and forcing them to fight.

Chomper quickly took out the blades on his shoulders and slashed away, taking the face off one in a spark, as he then spun, and nearly sliced another one in half from his momentum. Tendou fought furiously, slashing his own dagger right and left, kicking one giga-fighter away with his right leg before jabbing the weapon into the single glowing eye of another.

But they just weren't acting quickly enough, as Remo approached the nest, slowly and ominously. Ayla stood and growled, her tail ready to strike, not knowing what she could do with it though, after seeing what happened to Bron.

Tendou then thought of something else. He pulled the horn of the beetle on his belt back to the original position. "PUT ON!" The computer spoke, as his heavy armor came back over his form, his gunaxe returning to his side.

He left Chomper to deal with the giga-fighters, which he was doing very well, as he aimed for Remo's back and fired. The shote peppered the dinopactor's back, and made him jump a little. He turned his attention to the fully armored Tendou, before Ayla saw an opening, and brought her tail down, giving him a hard thwack.

The blow was hard enough to send Remo flying away from the nest. Tendou moved in quickly, and yelled as he raised the blade section of his gunaxe. He brought it down towards Remo, but missed as it smacked the ground. Remo took advantage, and rammed his right shoulder into Tendou, knocking him away from his weapon.

Remo then moved quickly towards Tendou, slashing at him sideways, and making him duck. He then slashed with his axe in the opposite direction as Tendou strafed out of the way, making the axe strike a large tree nearby.

Splinters flew everywhere as the axe was now stuck in the tree's side. Remo grunted, and slowly pulled the blade out, allowing Tendou to go pick up his weapon. Tendou ran towards Remo and slashed for his head with the gunaxe, only to be met with a clash from Remo's, as he pulled his axe out just in time.

The clashing sounds of the axes could be heard for miles, as Remo swung the weapon all around, angrily trying to manhandle his opponent with it. Tendou slashed back every so often, but was mindful to dodge at other times. The got back to the other side of the same tree, as Remo swung again, missed, and buried the axe into the tree once more.

Tendou reacted quickly, grabbing Remo by his still present horns as he dropped his weapon. He strongly held Remo in place as the tree slowly began to fall down. Remo struggled, trying to get out of the way, until the tree finally came down, smacking him in the back of his head and pinning him down.

Meanwhile, Chomper made short work of the Giga-fighters, spinning and twirling his blades as he cut open the chests of two of them at the same time. They sparked and fell over as he ran over to the last one in the group, crossing his blades as he brought them up, and promptly decapitating the robot.

Before Tendou could think of what else to do with the downed Remo, Kevran suddenly teleported in from out of nowhere.

Tendou got into fighting position once more, before Kevran showed total disinterest in fighting at the moment. He and two other giga-fighters helped to roll the tree off of Remo.

"If I had known you were going to be such a discipline case…" Kevran grunted. "I would have never bothered with giving you Symbiosis…" He helped Remo back onto his feet.

Tendou quickly brought up his gunaxe, but they all transported away from the scene before he could even fire.

Littlefoot and Ali, along with Bron, all went rushing over to the nest, making sure everything was ok. Littlefoot then turned his attention to Chomper, who stepped forward while still in his Gattack armor.

He then slowly detached the stag beetle on his belt, letting it fly away as he shifted back into his normal form.

"Miss me?" The teen sharptooth grinned.

"Chomper!" Littlefoot and Ali ran to greet their old friend.

"Ah…" Ayla smiled as she looked on with Bron. "So this is the famous Chomper we've heard all about."

Littlefoot grinned and nodded. "Yeah, it's him all right…" His mind then turned to something else. "But where did the suit come from? Is the neo-spirit back in business?"

Chomper's eyes went wide. "How do you know about that thing?"

Ali blinked a little. "Well…didn't it tell you about us at all?"

Chomper shook his head. "Uhhh no…I've mostly been getting help from my new friend, Tendou…" He then looked around for him, suddenly unable to see him around.

"Tendou?…Tendou?" He called out to his friend, before looking back at the Longnecks, puzzled. "Now where did he go?…"

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Petrie walked slowly up the slopes of the massive "Smokey Mountain". He was still in his Kaixa armor as he strolled up the side of this large volcano, smoke billowing out from the hot lava below.

His mind was now awash in pure guilt and utter shame. All this time, he had been killing, and maiming…and for what? All for one big lie that he believed in…coupled with a deep-seated lust for power and vengeance.

He realized he was at a crossroads as he got to the very top of Smokey Mountain, and looked down into the lava. He withdrew the Kaixa driver and changed back one last time. He placed the driver into his belt, and held out his winged arms, preparing to dive into the mountain and end it all…

That was until he remembered his Mother…and his uncle. He then thought it over, and how devastating it would be to hear of his death…especially if he died without even trying to set things right with himself and others.

It was then that he slowly brought his wings down, and looked at the belt. He saw the mission memory device glowing, gaining knowledge from his actions all the time, just as Kevran had programmed it to do. Deep down he could feel the evil in this device, and how it was somehow feeding his rage, his hate, his lust for power. The same rage and hate that eventually brought Kusaka to his end…

He decided right there, that it was time for him and the Kaixa gear to go their separate ways.

He reached down, and attempted to finally pull the belt off of his body. Unfortunately, the belt was especially designed to never let go of its owner. The presence of a rare, compatible body was much too valuable for it. Multiple metal clamps came out from the sides, and dug into Petrie's flesh.

Petrie grunted, and pulled harder, even as the pain grew greater and greater. The clamps began to tear parts of his flesh as he yelled and screamed in pain at the top of the volcano. But he was determined, bent on starting a new life, no matter how much it hurt, as he pulled and pulled.

Eventually, through much torn flesh around the waist, and determined strength, Petrie finally got the belt off him. He quickly tossed it into the volcano, as he tumbled down the side, clutching at his wounds. He did not notice that the belt had landed on a wide ledge just above the lava, unharmed.

Petrie came down from the mountain all the way, still clutching his wounds, The Neo-Organisms ship floating by soon after, having detected him. The teen flyer looked up at the vessel, before collapsing on the ground, exhausted. The ship took advantage of this, and beamed him aboard, before flying away.

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Time passed as the belt sat, without its owner, feeling the heat of the lava below as it sizzled just a little, sparking. The tiny screen on the Kaixa driver fizzled to life as white text appeared on the black backround.

STAUS REPORT…

30 MINUTE LIMIT EXCEEDED…

KAIXA HOST MISSING, PRESUMED DEAD.

New data was pumped into the driver from the mission memory device on the belt, taking emergency protocol measures especially built in by Kevran…

BEGIN DNA REPLICATION

The belt quickly began to work, using genetic information left by the little bits of flesh left on the belt's clamps. The belt was still sparking, being affected by the intense heat below, which was in turn affecting the replication work.

A pool of muck, mostly proteins and other chemicals intended for the creation of organic life began to form under the belt. The mission memory helped in the process, adding to the design all the knowledge it had of Petrie's body…and augmenting it with the hatred and aggression he had deep down during his time with the belt.

The pool bubbled as a solid form came into being around it. It was slowly taking the shape of a male teen flyer. His face and form were scarred, just as Petrie's had been, but his beak was also menacing and jagged, his eyes almost glowing a little. One was red, and the other was black.

The creature slowly began to breathe, the belt firmly around his waist. He rolled onto his stomach in the muck that had created him, and looked up from the lava below…before letting loose a distorted, ear-shattering, rage-consumed scream…


	12. Rage That Refuses To Die

"Dina…Dina…"

The injured Remo dragged himself on his forelegs over to his downed mate. He was hurt badly in the attack by the sharpteeth, but he was still alive. That was the last thing on his mind, though, as he looked over at his mate, who was laying on her side.

"Dina…please, wake up…"

Remo panicked a little as he nudged her, trying to get a response as she simply stayed still. It was clear from just looking at her that her injuries were very serious.

"Dina…please…don't go…don't go…"

He nudged her a few more times, and layed down fully next to her. Tears welled up in his eyes as the realization began to dawn on him…she was gone.

"Dina…DINA!" He called out, before collapsing on his side and beginning to sob uncontrollably. The shock was terrible, feelings of incredible hurt and sadness entering him, a sort of sadness that he had never felt before.

Remo then jumped up into a sitting position, waking up from his dream. He had decided to take a quick nap in a storage room, his mind going over what had happened. Somehow he had survived the attack, and spent much of his time wandering the earth. Part of him wanted to kill Topsy, even back then, but he could never find him.

That was, until he came across a small herd of three-horns that Tria had been talking to on and off. They informed him of her trek to the valley a while back, which led him in that direction…a path that eventually crossed with Kevran.

"What am I going to do with you?" He suddenly heard a voice speak. He turned to see Kevran standing in the doorway.

"I see so much potential in you, Remo…" he continued as he walked into the room. "You're obviously much more smart and crafty than the carnivorous dinosaurs I had been using…if only you could learn to follow orders as well as they did."

Remo slowly rose to his feet, his form breaking the darkness of the room. "With all respect, sir…I can't simply put my past behind me. I want to use the memory of what happened to me so I can gain strength, and carry your worthy cause…"

"We can't be rash about this, Remo…" Kevran shook his head slowly. "Symbiosis is a tricky compound to create, and it takes a long time to replace any of it that's been used up…If I use it up too quickly, I'll be wide open to my enemies."

"Why not just use my blood to get more?" Remo asked.

Kevran shook his head again. "Once the compound has bound itself to your blood, it becomes yours, and no one else's…I need pure strains for the whole thing to work."

"Let me use these pure strains for you then…" Remo smiled. "I know of some great and powerful dinosaurs in the valley who would work wonders for you."

"It's tempting…" Kevran mused for a moment. "But we've got enemies with powerful weapons against us, more powerful than what I've been able to come up with…and we need to deal with them first, or I'll just go on wasting more and more of the strain."

Remo walked a little closer to him. "Is there anything I might do to help?"

"Someone's been snooping around the ship…" Kevran started. "I've detected this fellow in a few different locations we've flown to, so he's rather crafty like you…find him, and bring him to me…"

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Outside of the ship, a teen male longneck kept watch from behind a tree…only it wasn't Tendou.

Rhett, just as Ali had feared, quickly left the herd after hearing of her departure. He assumed she had gone back to the valley, even though no one had told him that, and was quickly on her trail…before he witnessed Remo's conversion into a dinopactor secretly.

Ever since then, he had been carefully following the ship as best he could, staying hidden from their sight, or so he thought. He had pondered going for help, but part of his hero complex from when he was younger stubbornly remained. He wasn't sure how he'd foil these clearly bad people, but he was positive he'd find a way at some point.

He watched closely as one of the ship's doors opened, giga fighters stepping out and looking around for something.

"Uh-oh…" He thought to himself. "Did they spot me somewhere?"

The teen dinosaur slowly began to back away from the tree, looking for a better place to hide…it was then that he bumped into something hard that had suddenly appeared. He whipped around to see Remo standing in front of him.

"Hello there…" Remo spoke in an almost cordial manner. "You lost?"

"You!" Rhett exclaimed as he backed off again. "You're the one I saw…"

Remo didn't quite know what he meant by that, furrowing his brow. He shook that off though as he smiled lightly, approaching the longneck with one step. "My master notices that you've been staying on our trail for a while now…was there something you wished to ask him?"

Rhett swallowed a bit, backing off a little more, but nervously nodding. "Uhhhh yes…uhhhhh…does he know of any good places to get tree sweets?"

The dinopactor just folded his arms, not responding. He rapped his fingers on his armor a bit before he gave the teen longneck an ominous smile. "Would you like to meet my master? Ask him that directly?"

Rhett's smile became even more nervous as he backed away and shook his head. "No…no that, won't be necessary."

"What's wrong?" Remo's face grew more amused. "You afraid?"

"Uhhhhh….uhhhhhh…" Rhett stumbled for an answer, before he finally just turned and made a break for it, running through some bushes.

Remo just sighed as he saw this and picked up a small rock, getting ready to toss it. Rhett scrambled through the bushes, leaves brushing against him from every direction as he avoided the small branches at the same time…until something struck him hard on the head, and everything went dark.

The rock was thrown right on target, a testament to Remo's improved senses and skills, as he walked over and looked at the unconscious longneck. With great strength, he lifted Rhett, and carried him back towards the ship.

"My lord…" He spoke to Kevran from outside. "I believe we might have a volunteer…"

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Ruby rushed into the main room of the ship. She had been enjoying a selection of foods that the Neo-Spirit had given her to facilitate her recovery, wiping some of it off her face as she saw two things…Tendou standing near a table with a concerned look on his face, and Petrie laying on it, having what looked like a seizure as two mechanical arms attended to him.

"What's going on?" Ruby yelled as she rushed in, the look on her face demanding information. "What's he doing here?"

"We found him outside the valley recently." Tendou spoke, not taking his eyes off the convulsing flyer. "And he was without his belt…it seems he got it off of him, even defeating the safety mechanisms to keep it on…" he motioned with his head to the healing wounds on his middle.

Ruby watched Petrie breathe heavily and thrash with wide eyes, getting very worried now as she looked back over at Tendou. "What's wrong with him?"

The computer answered now. "His system has gone into shock. That belt had learned everything about his body during the time he had it on, and before he ripped it off, it very nearly had fused with his central nervous system."

"That's the part of your body that includes the brain…" Tendou explained to her further.

"Now his body is trying to adapt to the sudden departure of the belt." The Neo-Spirit continued. "We are simply trying to assist him in this process."

Ruby slowly approached Petrie as he convulsed some more, spitting up some odd liquid as the arms holding him down cleaned it up. She shook her head as her face took a confused, and conflicted look, memories racing back.

"You tried to kill Chomper…" she spoke softly. "And you almost killed me. Now you come back here without your weapons, expecting forgiveness." She turned a bit and placed a hand on his throat as he breathed hard, his eyes rolling back. "You really think I can give that to you…" she tightened her grip around his neck, making him gag a little "Do you!"

"Ruby!" Tendou shouted, with a shocked look on his face. "I think there have been enough attempts on lives lately…" he chuckled a little, motioning for her to come down. She sighed a little and nodded, calming herself as she moved back towards the longneck.

"Now think about this…" Tendou spoke to her, encouragingly. "He came out from nowhere, without the aid of a very powerful weapon, which he tore off his body, probably very painfully, and he put his life on the line by going into shock from the whole thing…" He smiled as he spoke. "What more do you want from the guy? It's pretty clear he's sincere about all this."

Ruby nodded. "I guess so…I just wish I knew what Chomper had to say about it." She looked to her right and left, before gazing back at Tendou curiously. "By the way, where is he?"

"I don't know." Tendou continued to watch Petrie as he spoke. "He still hasn't come back after fighting with me in the valley, so I guess he's still there…doing what, I have no idea."

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"So, tell us more about this Tendou fellow." Ayla spoke to Chomper with a curious look in her eyes, still sitting next to her nest as the teen Sharptooth explained what he knew of what was going on. Bron was sitting next to her now, giving her snuggles when she needed it, with Littlefoot and Ali also sitting near one another, listening. Shorty was listening too, though he had taken a little time out to get a hold of a tree star or two for a snack.

"Don't spoil your dinner, Shorty." Bron smiled as he interrupted Ayla and Chomper for a moment. Shorty just nodded as he chewed, while Bron chuckled to his wife. "He does that a lot, that's why I remind him."

"Tendou…" Chomper continued. "What can I tell you about the guy…" he scratched his chin a little. "He doesn't say much about his past. He's very secretive about that. What I can tell you is, he's a longneck, about your age, Littlefoot…"

"Really?" Littlefoot raised his head in interest. "Anything else?"

"Well…" Chomper tried to think of other details. "He has these eyes…gives him a very intense look. Like he's always thinking hard about something."

Littlefoot put the image together in his head, as a very familiar face suddenly popped up in his mind. "No…" He quickly shook his head. "No, it can't be…he's dead…"

"Who's dead?" Chomper enquired.

Ali answered for Littlefoot, knowing what he was talking about. "Chomper…some time ago we were attacked by this Impactor named Logia. At one point, we discovered he was really Littlefoot's brother."

"His brother?" Chomper's jaw dropped, a look of real surprise in his face.

"Yes…" Littlefoot nodded. "The whole story of how he became an Impactor is a long and painful one that even I haven't fully figured out… We finally were able to reconcile our differences, but by then he was already near death."

Chomper nodded slowly, about to offer his condolences before Ali suddenly gazed at littlefoot with an idea.

"Wait a minute…these two are working with the Neo-Spirit, right?"

"Yes…" Littlefoot nodded, furrowing his brow.

"Well, The Neo-Spirit brought Mihara back from the dead, right?…as well as your mother?" Ali looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to get what she was coming to.

"Yes…" Littlefoot's eyes widened as the possibilities flooded into his mind. He quickly shot his gaze back to Chomper. "Do you think you could talk to this Tendou some more…ask him about his past as much as you can?"

Chomper mulled this over for a bit, twitching his jaw a bit. "Hmmmm…I don't think he'd like that too much…but I could a give it a shot." He then got up and waved to everyone. "I'll come back later." He smiled as he walked off, looking for a good spot to transport.

Everyone watched on expectantly as he left, all lost in thought. Could it be? Could it have been that the other surviving son who had roamed with evil been given a second chance by the Neo-Spirit?…

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Pterano limped out into the daylight. His condition was improving, so he could do this by himself without much trouble. He thought about Petrie every so often, hoping that wherever he was, that he would take what he had said to him to heart.

He tilted his head up and closed his eyes, sighing as he took in the bright, warm sun. Being in shelter all the time just wasn't his cup of tea. Moments after he started relaxing, he heard something…the sound of wings flapping furiously.

Pterano opened his eyes, part of him hoping to see his reformed nephew finally returning home. What he saw instead, was former friend of his flying wildly into the valley, before groaning and landing awkwardly on the ground, panting.

"Rinkus!" Pterano scowled as he came over.

"Pterano…" The flyer wheezed as he looked over at his former ally, putting up his arms. "Please don't hurt me…I've been through enough…"

"You have a lot of nerve showing your face around here again." Pterano growled. "And where's Sierra? Is he waiting to jump me somewhere?"

"Sierra's dead!" Rinkus yelled out, almost sobbing as he caught his breath. "He's dead…"

"Dead?" Pterano limped closer as he kneeled by him carefully. The first possibility came right to his mind "Sharpteeth?"

Rinkus shook his head. "No…in fact, this creature killed a whole herd of fast-biters before it got to us…males…females…hatchlings…it didn't discriminate."

Pterano's eyes went wide, a sick feeling filling the pit of his stomach. He hesitated, but carried on with his next question. "Was it Petrie?"

The flyer wrinkled his brow, and turned his face to meet Pterano's. "I don't know what would ever give you that idea…but this…this THING, is not your nephew." He panted just a little now. "Believe me…I saw his face…"

He then saw it again in his mind…the image of a distorted, male flyer's face that was coming right towards him with a bloodcurdling shriek. He jumped and cowered at the sheer thought of it.

Pterano just watched Rinkus, before looking out to the horizon beyond the valley, as the sun was slowly beginning to set. All he could do was wonder what in the hell was going on now…if this killer wasn't Petrie, then who could it be?

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A female raptor was now running in the dark, carrying an egg. She was now the last of her herd, willing to run anywhere in order to be sure that this hatchling was born. As she ran, she heard more of the frightening shrieks, which were often accompanied by the roar of heavy weapon fire.

She ran and ducked behind a collection of boulders, cowering with the lone egg. All she could do was hope that the creature had not seen her, and it seemed to be working. The shrieks and the weapon fire ceased…

She then looked to her left and right, slowly beginning to peek up…maybe it had indeed gone away…

The figure of the creature then suddenly jumped up into view. She got a good look at it finally, as it was the figure of the Kaixa armor, only without the helmet, showing off the creature's grotesque face. Just as the intense heat of the volcano had altered the creation of the clone, it in turn had messed up many of the internal components of the belt, forcing it to change for survival, thus altering the armor. The armor looked much larger now, and accentuated the muscles of the creature it inhabited. Attached to the creature's back now, were not one blaygun, but two of them.

It was the only good look the female would get of the creature however, as she tried to make an escape, before finally being pounced with a loud screech from the monster.

Then everything went dark…


	13. Enter Sasword

"Petrie…"

Petrie heard his name spoken a few more times, as he slowly came out of what felt like a very long sleep. There were bright lights all around him, as he squinted his eyes, rolling a bit on the hard metal of the table he lay on.

He then felt a hand touching his right wing as he heard the same voice speaking to him.

"Petrie…wake up." Ruby spoke to him softly.

Petrie soon recognized the voice, the cobwebs in his head slowly clearing as he shook his head a little bit, looking over at the teen oviraptor.

"What…what is this?" He asked weakly. "Why do you suddenly show so much concern over me…" He was obviously talking about the time he shot her, as he slowly shook his head. "I don't deserve your mercy."

Ruby buttoned her lips for a moment. It was true…he did almost kill her. But at the same time, she could look past it. She didn't know why, but after sitting by his side for a long time, and watching him suffer, his inner weakness revealed without the belt…much of the hatred she had for what he had done began to melt away, and turn into pity.

"You've done so much to yourself already, Petrie…" she told him. "Beating yourself up isn't going to make things better…I mean, you almost died."

"Then I SHOULD have died!" Petrie raised his voice, sitting up part way. He then felt his lungs burning, as he started to cough uncontrollably. The robotic arms of the Neo-Spirit gently moved him back to a lying position on the table.

"It would not be wise to exert yourself right now." The computer spoke to him calmly as Ruby looked on, concerned. "You must rest and let your nervous system fully recuperate from the shock."

Petrie sighed as he rubbed much of his face slowly, feeling very groggy. "Why…what's the point now….of what possible use could I be to you all?"

"I shall determine that when the time comes." The Neo-Spirit responded, analyzing something on the screen nearby. "Until then, simply rest."

Ruby simply walked back over to Petrie as he closed his eyes, pretending not to pay attention to her as she spoke. "Listen…Petrie, I know all about it now….Tendou told me everything, with your uncle being attacked." She sat on the table near him.

"You went crazy, I understand…and you got your hands on something that made it worse…but the important thing is, you snapped out of it…I realize that now. You gave up that new part of you, and risked your life in the process."

Petrie sighed through his closed eyes. "It still doesn't change what I did…"

"True…" Ruby nodded. "But now you've got the chance to balance yourself out. You can make everything right again."

"How?" Petrie furrowed his brow as he opened his eyes.

"You'll find a way." She smiled to him. "I know you, Petrie…you will."

Chomper returning to the ship, looking rather distracted, soon interrupted their moment. Tendou noticed him from the next room, and rushed out to meet him as he walked into another room to the right of the bridge.

"What took you so long to get back here?" Tendou asked him, a look of real curiosity on his face. Chomper just froze for a moment, his back turned to him. He took a good look around him, and remembered all of what Littlefoot and his family had told him…something just wasn't making sense here.

He then turned around to face Tendou. "Why won't you tell me anything?" He asked. "About your past? About what you were doing before all this?"

Tendou looked a bit nervous for a second, his eyes going wide, before he collected himself and countered. "Well, there's been no time for explanations, really. What about you? You've told me nothing as well. Were those longnecks we saved friends of yours, or something, from before?"

"As a matter of fact, they are." Chomper shot back, walking closer to Tendou. "In fact, one of them, Littlefoot's his name…he hatched me!"

Tendou furrowed his brow, looking absolutely stupefied now, beginning to talk half to himself "Littlefoot never talked about tha-…" He then froze just as Chomper did after that moment. He knew he had just given himself away. He didn't know exactly what Littlefoot, Ali, and the others had told him, but he had a hunch…

Chomper's jaw dropped as his suspicions were now confirmed. "It's you, isn't it?" His face was now in front of Tendou's. "You're Logia…"

Tendou felt a rush of panic through his system, as Chomper touched on the parts of his psyche that he dared not venture. He kept his gaze squarely on Chomper as he scowled slowly.

"Don't you ever mention that name in front of me, again…" he growled quietly. "Logia is dead…you understand me? He's dead." He then turned and walked quickly to another room. "And it is in everyone's best interest that he stay dead."

Chomper just stared at the conflicted young longneck, who still scowled as he walked away. The moments of silence was soon broken by the voice of the Neo-Spirit.

"Chomper…" She called to him. "I believe we have more urgent matters at the moment…I've just detected something not far from here…"

The sharptooth took a final look at Tendou leaving, before turning his attention back to the main room. Ruby was still watching over the resting Petrie, as Chomper sat on a chair near one of the screens.

"What have you got?" He enquired.

"I have detected a very strange organism terrorizing some of the herds in the area…very hostile creature." Several bizarre images came up on screen.

"What is it?" Chomper asked, scratching his head.

"I'm not sure at the moment." The computer answered. "But it does seem to be giving off the same basic signal as the Kaixa gear."

"What?" Petrie's eyes shot wide open as he raised his head. "That's impossible…I destroyed that thing…I threw it into the Smokey mountain…" he coughed a little bit as Ruby encouraged him to stay down once more.

"Well, whatever it is, I'd better go check it out…" Chomper got up, preparing to go out once more.

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The once peaceful daytime of the open meadow, a short distance from the ship, was soon interrupted by the invasion of the violent creature. He screeched a horrible noise from his jagged maw, as he pursued two raptors. He grabbed one by the neck just as it tried to leap away, and clutched its neck as it kicked and fought him as best it could. He then growled viciously as he tightened his grip, a horrible crunching noise heard as he broke the poor creature's neck right there.

The other raptor whimpered helplessly as the creature slurped along its beak with its grotesque tongue, tossing the cadaver aside like a bad piece of meat. He then chuckled a little, his laugh very distorted and frightening as he removed one of his twin blayguns, preparing to fire.

A blade weapon then suddenly flew at his right side from out of nowhere, cutting into his armor. He roared and hissed as he turned to face Chomper, already in the cast-off form of his Gattack armor. He reached out and caught the blade as it returned to his hand like a boomerang.

The surviving raptor ran off as Chomper shook his head at the creature. "What is your problem buddy? You've got nothing better to do than pick on helpless dinosaurs?"

The creature growled. It turned to reveal elements of the old Kaixa armor as it stared right at him. "You let my prey get away alive…" His slightly distorted voice spoke, slimy and sickening in its tone. "That's not gonna bode well for my reputation."

"Who in the world are you?" Chomper asked as he readied both his blades now.

"I am no one really…" The creature spoke as it raised its arms a little, wanting to take its time with this armored being. "I'm not like you, or the ones I kill, or even the one who cast me aside, thinking he could simply walk away from what he had set in motion." He grinned to Chomper widely. "I am Kaixa…true Kaixa…nothing more than that…"

Chomper breathed nervously now as he twirled his blades. "What are you trying to accomplish with all this?"

Kaixa looked down and scowled. "This talking bores me…" He then whipped out his same blaygun and fired at Chomper. Chomper deflected a few of the shots before jumping and evading the rest as best he could.

Kaixa laughed happily as he then got out his other blaygun and began to run towards him. He fired both weapons straight at Chomper, screeching loudly as Chomper found little to no room to evade all these rapid-fire blasts. He deflected a few shots, but soon found several others slamming into his armor, making smoke as he stumbled and coughed a bit, at Kaixa's mercy now.

The grotesque creature then stopped firing, and decided to have a little more fun. He extracted both the blades on his weapons, and turned them so they were now facing upward. He ran in and screeched loudly once more, swinging them madly.

Chomper faced his challenge as usual, swinging his own blades and quickly clashing with Kaixa's. His right blade met kaixa's left, then his left met Kaixa's right, sparks flying quickly as they clashed and smashed into each other rapidly. All he could do was defend himself, witnessing the sheer ferocity of Kaixa as he tried over and over again to kill him in one blow.

Kaixa then swung both his blades down towards Chomper's head. Chomper then crossed his blades, and pushed them out to meet the impact of the weapons, a major clash of strength ensuing. Chomper pushed harder and harder to keep Kaixa's blades from cutting through him, feeling the shower of sparks coming down from above, and bouncing off his armor, as Kaixa screeched and squealed ferociously, hissing with effort.

Chomper grunted and whimpered just a little, before finding his strength and grunting harder with effort. He then yelled out in rage as he finally threw Kaixa's arms off, then nailed him with a hard front kick to the chest. Kaixa flew back a few feet, before steadying himself, and twirling his own weapons.

"Ooooooh, you're going to be a fun kill…" He grinned, sickeningly.

Chomper panted a little as he held his blades up, getting ready to attack Kaixa once more. Kaixa hissed with a smile as he turned his weapons back over, the gun sections aimed right at Chomper as he prepared to let him have it with another barrage.

Then a figure suddenly leaped out from nowhere, and landed right on Kaixa's back. Kaixa squealed in surprise, and fired blindly as the figure wrapped its right arm around his neck, and put his left over the top of his head.

"Tendou!" Chomper shouted as he recognized his ally.

"Chomper…" Tendou grunted in his cast-off armor, forgetting all about what happened earlier. "Use your masked form, now!"

Chomper nodded quickly as he pulled back on the jaws of the stag beetle on his belt. "PUT ON" the computer spoke, as his heavy armor came back on, complete with the guns on his shoulders. He then aimed carefully and fired, the blasts missing Tendou, but slamming into Kaixa's chest.

Kaixa then screeched and flailed about madly, the shots smashing apart sections of its armor as he finally threw Tendou off before Chomper could blast him again. He then decided retreat was the best option for now, as two mechanical wings suddenly sprouted from his back. Chomper fired again, but missed, as Kaixa quickly took to the sky, and flew away from the scene.

Chomper caught his breath for a moment, changing back to his original form as he looked over at Tendou. "What brought you out here all of a sudden?" He cocked his eyebrow. "I wasn't sure we were on speaking terms anymore."

Tendou sighed as he let his beetle fly away, changing back as he approached Chomper. "Well…a little time in silence gives you plenty of moments to think." He sat down slowly and looked at his partner. "You were right Chomper…I've been too secretive with you when it comes to where I've been before. You've got a right to know, and I'm gonna tell you right now…"

Chomper looked a little bewildered at first, wondering why he cracked so quickly. But he nodded despite this, and walked over to Tendou, sitting next to him in the grass as the longneck stared off into the sky, preparing to tell his familiar tale…

"It all started when I hatched…I had no idea where I was, or who my family was, because they lost my egg somehow…"

"You mean Littlefoot's family?" Chomper enquired.

"Yes…" Tendou nodded. "It turned out there was an Impactor surveying this world at the same time…her name was Lucia, and she took me in, cared for me, nursed me back to health, and at one point even planned on taking me away from this planet."

"Wow…" Chomper's eyes widened. "Did she?"

Tendou nodded. "Yes…but not in the way she originally intended. See, one night, I saw Littlefoot and Cera running from a sharptooth. I tried to run over and direct them to a safe place, but by then my mother had found them, and was fighting the Sharptooth…by the time I recognized her scent, though…she accidentally knocked me into a crevice…a very deep one." He lowered his head.

Chomper listened intently as he continued. "Lucia found me, broken, and on the verge of death…she took me to her ship, and in a last ditch effort to save me, she replaced almost all of my original body with Impactor parts."

"Oh wow…" Chomper spoke. "So you used to be one of those things, like Kevran?"

"Yes…" Tendou replied. "And I had a different name, one that Lucia gave me…" He looked straight at Chomper. "Logia."

Chomper just nodded. It all made sense now. "Did all of the Impactors know what you really were?"

Tendou shook his head. "No…only Lucia, along with a General who got too nosy…and Kevran, who was a good friend of Lucia and myself for a long time."

Chomper nodded quickly, another idea coming to him. "That must be where Kevran got the idea to start turning dinosaurs into these…things. He got the idea from your existence as Logia."

"Yes…" Tendou sighed as he nodded slowly. "And that's why this mission has a particular significance in my heart…and why I have shied away from my family. If I don't confront this ghost from my past and defeat it now, I can't bring myself to look my family in all of their eyes…they need to know that all traces of Logia's legacy are gone before I can come live with them…do you understand?" He looked right into Chomper's eyes.

Chomper looked back at his partner. He wanted to say something in defense of him seeing his family now, but nothing was really coming to mind. He was also soon distracted, as was Tendou, as they both heard footsteps coming from their left side.

The figure giving off these sounds soon revealed itself, as another armored warrior walked into their view. The breeze blew off its large helmet, long visor, and light-red heavy armor as the grass and leaves swayed around it, a long sword perched along its left shoulder as its hand held onto the hilt securely. Its design was fairly similar to both Kabuto and Gattack, though the power source appeared to be on the figure's right wrist, the main unit shaped like a purple scorpion.

Tendou got up slowly, and walked ahead of Chomper, facing the silent armored figure with suspicious eyes.

"Can I help you?" He asked the figure.

The helmet of the warrior nodded gently, as his male voice finally spoke. "Yes…you can die!"

The holder of the unit Kevran created, and named Sasword, then sprang into action. He launched himself towards the two, making them run off as he swung his broadsword-like weapon at them, cutting the tree behind them instead.

"Wow-wee…" Chomper mused as he got back next to Tendou. "We're making all kinds of new friends today, huh?"

Tendou just nodded as the two soon summoned their respective units seconds later, transforming and taking off their heavy armor, making Sasword block with his weapon as the pieces of it all flew towards him.

Sasword watched as Tendou readied his dagger, and Chomper pulled the blade weapons from his shoulders. He then calmly reached down and pressed a button on his sword, the heavy armor beginning to detach on his body, as well as on his sword.

"I guess this must be the fruits of the stolen processor…" Tendou spoke as he observed this.

Chomper stayed silent as he watched Sasword pull back on a lever on the sword now. "CAST OFF" a familiar voice spoke, as the heavy red armor blasted off his form, forcing Tendou and Chomper to block from their end too.

"CHANGE SCORPION" The computer spoke once more, as Sasword stood in his lighter, more mobile form. His slender armor was now purple, with sleek, glowing blue eyes on the helmet. The top of the helmet had the design of a scorpion tail around it, as menacing fangs were carved into the metal of the mouth. His sword had changed too, now more resembling a katana blade.

Tendou and Chomper soon readied themselves and charged in to fight, as Sasword held out his sword with his right arm, his blade's tip pointed at both of them as he slowly advanced towards the duo…


	14. Reluctant Alliance

Chomper made the first strike, slashing at Sasword with both his blades. Sasword quickly sidestepped him, and slashed him twice across the back with his weapon. Chomper grunted and turned to face his opponent as Tendou rushed in and moved towards Sasword's side with his dagger.

Sasword quickly countered, bringing his sword down and clashing with Tendou, making more sparks fly between the weapons.

"Whoo, he's quick…" Tendou thought to himself, as he struggled to come up with another move. Before he could do so, though, Sasword swiftly swept out Tendou's left foot with his right, throwing him off balance before smacking him in the head with the hilt of his sword as he fell forward…then as he fell back, Sasword gave him an upwards diagonal slash, which cut into his chest plate slightly.

The distraction from Tendou allowed Chomper to come in from behind and catch Sasword with a spinning move, extending both his blades. Sasword felt the blades cutting into his back as he grunted and spun to face his opponent. He ducked as Chomper swiped for his head with the right blade, and stepped back as Chomper then swiped at his middle with the left.

Sasword readied himself, then quickly dashed in with two interconnected upward slash moves with his sword, first to the right, then to the left. Chomper weaved away from both moves, and jumped where he stood, planting his right foot in Sasword's face very hard.

The purple armored fighter fell backwards from the blow, landing back on his arms as his sword fell off to his right side on the ground. Chomper then stood a few feet away from him, and twirled his weapons swiftly in his hands.

"Got any other fancy moves you wanna try?" Chomper asked him, confidently.

"How about this?" Sasword quickly responded, before suddenly reaching for his sword and throwing it at Chomper. Chomper quickly blocked the move, making the sword bounce off his weapons, and twirl in the air. Sasword anticipated this however, as he then quickly got up, caught the blade just as it came within a few feet of the ground, and caught Chomper off guard with a left handed slash across the helmet.

Chomper yelled out in pain as the sparks flew inward, temporarily blinding him. Sasword quickly turned to face Tendou, who was rushing in to fight him from behind. He faked another upward slash, before catching Tendou with a hard right roundhouse kick.

Tendou was stunned momentarily, as Sasword turned back to look at Chomper, who stumbled and flailed everywhere. Sasword promptly pulled back on another lever on the sword along the hilt, not wasting any time as he pushed it back forward.

"RIDER SLASH" His computer spoke, as his sword began to glow with a strange purple colored energy. He twirled the sword, and got into position for the attack, as much of this energy dripped and flew off his blade…much like venom from a scorpion.

He charged towards Chomper silently, preparing to let him have it with this move, as Chomper stumbled, and tried to get a good look at who he was fighting…before somebody suddenly pushed him out of the way.

Tendou had managed to get up in time to save his friend, shoving him off to the side just Sasword had prepared to strike. Sasword, however was unfazed, wanting to nail at least one of the duo, and not having a preference as to which one would go first.

He yelled out as he finally swung his sword towards Tendou, caught up in the power behind this move. Tendou tried to counter with his dagger, but he was too late. He felt the glowing blade slash through his armor once, swiftly, the pain incredible…so incredible that it silenced any screams he could make. He then felt another slash…then another…then another…and another…Sasword swung his sword through him so many times and so quickly.

With a bloodthirsty cry, Sasword finally swung his sword to the left through Tendou, and turned, standing in a fighting position with his back to him, holding out the sword as the last of the energy dripped off the tip. As that happened, Tendou's form exploded completely, pieces of his armor flying everywhere.

"TENDOU!" Chomper screamed, not believing what he saw. His rage now powered him, as he let out a cry, half angry, half mournful, and tossed his blades right at Sasword. Sasword was slightly weakened by his last attack, as he saw the blades heading towards him, glowing. He held up his sword, but his block didn't work out, as one blade clipped his shoulder, and the other cut through his chest plate.

Sasword stumbled and stood his ground weakly, as Chomper ran right towards him, quickly powering up his beetle and pulling the jaws back into place. "RIDER KICK" his computer called out, as he jumped and prepared to let him have it with his trademark jumping cross kick.

However, Sasword made a quick last second decision, and activated his teleportation device, vanishing just before Chomper's foot made contact with his head.

Chomper landed softly after missing the kick, and looked up to see his opponent no longer there. He sat there for the longest time, his head down as his mind was awash with shock and sadness…his new friend was dead.

…Or so he thought.

"Chomper…" a voice called to him, weakly.

Chomper quickly shot up to attention, looking for the source of the voice as it called his name a few more times. After peering in through some trees and bushes, he finally found his source behind a nearby rock.

"Tendou!" Chomper called out to his ally as he ran to his side, still dressed in the gattack armor as he scooped up the teen longneck. He seemed fine, apart from some burns on his front legs.

"How…how did you…" Chomper began, confused.

"I thought of everything when I helped to design the Kabuto unit." Tendou spoke as he came out of his daze. "I am now alive thanks to an emergency internal deflector shield…I can activate it whenever I see a devastating attack coming, so I can keep the damage to the unit from permanently damaging me."

Chomper nodded as he held his downed comrade, before remembering. "Oh…the unit…" he looked over to see the charred remains of the red beetle, which lay on the grass not far from where he stood. "Oh Tendou…What are we gonna do now? I can't do all this by myself…"

"I'm sure it can be repaired, Chomper…" Tendou quickly reassured him. "For now, let's be grateful that I got out of this alive."

Chomper nodded again slowly as he reached down and picked up the damaged beetle as he held Tendou, looking to his left, then to his right.

"I wonder who that guy really was?" He wondered to himself, before teleporting away from the scene, carrying his friend.

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Kevran stood at the entrance of a cavern, not too far from where the last battle had taken place. His giga fighters, along with Remo, looked on as he suddenly spotted something walking towards him from the distance.

The figure of Sasword slowly approached, moving from the sinking daylight into the shadow of the shading near the cave's opening. He placed his sword down and kneeled obediently near the Impactor, as the robotic scorpion on his wrist suddenly detached and walked away.

Kevran watched as Sasword slowly changed back to his true form…that of the teen longneck, and Ali's herd buddy, Rhett…He stood prostrate on his four feet, a metal band around his right leg, the same spot that the Sasword unit latched onto.

The Impactor walked towards him as Remo watched. He then slowly places his hands on the Longneck's shoulders. "What news do you bring?"

Rhett looked up at him, his eyes serious and nervous at the same time. "Tendou has been defeated…he won't be a problem to you anymore." He then looked to the cave for a second, and then to Kevran. "Can I see her now?"

Kevran locked his gaze on his new, reluctant servant. "What about the other one?" he asked him, talking about Chomper and the Gattack unit.

Rhett sighed and looked down slowly. "He had me beat after I took care of Tendou…I had to retreat."

Kevran shook his head slowly as he gripped Rhett's shoulders harder, squeezing them. "Do you have a problem following directions, young one?" He growled. "I need them BOTH to be defeated. As long as one of them still lives, I still have a problem!"

"But…he's so strong…" Rhett shook his head as he kept it down. "Especially now that I've made him angry."

Kevran sighed and lifted Rhett's head, still keeping his gaze locked on the longneck. "I'm prepared to use Symbiosis right now, if you don't want to continue this…"

Rhett swallowed at the mere mention of the name for Kevran's strain. His complexion went very pale as he quickly shook his head. "No.. That's not necessary." He looked to the cave again. "I'll go on, and finish the job…but please…let me see her, just for a minute…I want a good reminder of what I'm fighting for."

Kevran thought this over for a moment, before turning to Remo, and nodding to him, giving the order for the dinopactor to stand down from his guard, and allow Rhett to go in.

The teen longneck rushed into the wet, dark depths of the cavern, until he saw the sparse illumination of a few of Kevran's devices. One of these was what looked like a very large IV bag, filled with a liquid compound of the Symbiosis strain. Nothing was draining out of it, but there was an empty cable, hooked to the end of the bag, the other end attached to the leg of an adult female longneck…Rhett's mother.

"Mom!" Rhett called out to her. She looked up at him and nodded gently, very frightened, just like him. Soon after Remo had captured Rhett, Kevran immediately took some blood from him, and followed the genetic links to help find his mother in the wandering herd. Without warning, he had Remo and the giga fighters capture her, and hold her hostage with the threat of a Symbiosis infection. Rhett would have no choice but to do his bidding, and don the new Sasword unit that Kevran had created from the processor he stole from Gattack.

"Rhett…" She called to him softly as he sprinted towards her, giving his mother a comforting nuzzle as she looked to him. "What's been going on out there?"

Rhett sighed as he sat next to her. "A lot of stuff I'm not proud of right now." He shook his head slowly. "I…just killed someone…someone I don't even know…I didn't want to…" he sniffled a bit. "But the thought of anything happening to you was always there…I couldn't stop myself." He lowered his head, ashamed.

His mother nuzzled him again. "Rhett…it's not your fault." She told him, comfortingly. "You've been forcibly coerced into this…we both have."

The teen longneck breathed heavily as he returned her nuzzles. "I swear mom…I'm gonna get you out of this…I don't know how…but you're not gonna sit here and be bullied by these guys for much longer…I promise…"

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Ruby, Petrie, and Chomper all sat at a table in the bridge of the Neo-Spirit's vessel, Tendou lying on his side in one corner, recovering. They all looked towards the center of the table, where the charred remains of the Kabuto unit lay.

"So what do you say?" Tendou asked the computer as he rested. "Can you fix it?"

The Neo-Spirit took another moment to examine the machine before making its conclusion. "Well, it's going to take some time…" It's voice echoed slightly in Tendou's ears, as he lay half asleep. "…But I do believe I can successfully repair the entire Kabuto unit…as well as maybe make a few enhancements to it."

"Enhancements?" Tendou enquired in a groggy voice.

"All in good time…" The computer responded. "For now, it's best that you recover right here on the ship while I work."

Chomper stood up slowly and paced about the room. "That's all well and good, but what am I to do in the meantime?" He sighed and shook his head as he walked. "I mean, we've got this scorpion guy on our backs right now, not to mention Kevran and this Kaixa maniac at the same time…it's too much for one fighter to take on."

"You're quite right Chomper…" The computer responded to him. "That's why I decided to design something to help you in the meantime…if you'll all observe the screen in the center of the right wall…"

Tendou weakly looked up, as Ruby, Chomper, and Petrie looked to the screen…inside, the image of another robotic insect popped up…this one being a rather menacing wasp.

"This is Zabii…" The compute spoke as it showed off the diagram of the unit. "This creation is an attempt at solid supporting system for Kabuto and Gattack, made from researching aspects of a few of our most recent battles…the unit attaches itself to the wearer, and becomes part of the armor through a special device worn on the wrist, as opposed to a belt…the unit also double's as Zabii's strongest weapon, able to deliver many effective attacks, including the devastating 'rider sting' maneuver. "

"Sounds good…" Chomper smiled as he turned to his other two healthy friends. "The only question now is…who's gonna help me out by wearing the thing?"

Ruby scratched her head a bit. "Don't look at me Chomper…" she giggled a bit. "You know I'm not the fighting type…"

That left only one candidate, as Chomper looked squarely at Petrie. Petrie tried to look away, still not quite sure how to feel about being near someone he tried to kill, but something compelled him to look back.

Chomper put aside all his past feelings of uneasiness, seeing the need for assistance as more important at this point. "Petrie…" he approached him slowly. "There's a real chance to redeem yourself staring you in the face…are you gonna take it?"

Petrie hummed a bit as he tapped at his beak a little…he looked to the screen displaying the Zabii unit, and then back to Chomper, carefully pondering what to do now…

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Rhett strolled out of the cave where his mother was being kept; looking out into the setting sun as he wondered what he would do about this whole situation. He knew that Kevran would not be happy until Chomper was defeated as well…but his pangs of conscience were still as strong as ever.

His thoughts were soon interrupted, though, as a figure suddenly jumped in from behind a rock and stared him right in the eyes.

"Evening…" Kaixa hissed to him, with a big grin.

"You!" Rhett jumped back. "It's you isn't it?…that sicko who's been killing all those sharpteeth?"

"Guilty as charged…" Kaixa grinned as he slurped his beak a little, staring at Rhett through his menacing eyes. "But that's not what I came here to talk about…" He crept a little closer to the longneck. "I want to talk about a little problem I'm having…"

"What problem?" Rhett backed away again.

Kaixa chuckled. "I've reached the end of my tether with this ridiculous quest I was left with when my former host abandoned me…I'm bored with just killing sharpteeth…"

He tapped the Kaixa driver on his middle. "This device is telling me there is so much more worthy prey beyond this world, and I want to see them all, and kill as many as I can!" He growled happily. "Oh the mere thought of such carnage excites me!"

Rhett breathed a bit quicker. "What does any of this have to do with me?"

Kaixa hissed again and drooled as he smiled. "You have a powerful weapon at your side, as well as access to a tantalizing Impactor ship…Ah, but you have problems of your own, don't you?…Your mother being held hostage, and a warrior you can't seem to defeat by yourself."

"Get to the point…" Rhett flashed the device on his leg that the Sasword unit attached to, as a warning.

Kaixa just grinned and licked his jagged flyer beak. "You want to kill the other warrior, and free your mother? I can help make it happen…all I ask is that you turn against Kevran and his flunkies afterward, and deliver their ship to me…"

It sounded tempting at first, but Rhett remained cautious of this creature. "And if I say no?"

Kaixa hissed again and sneered at him. "Then what's to stop me from shifting my focus from Sharpteeth to harmless leafeaters…such as your dear mother for starters?"

Rhett felt nauseous at the thought of this loathsome creature even laying a hand on his mother…but it had backed him into a corner with this. He wasn't sure if he could defeat this thing by himself in combat, and even if he did, he risked his only chance of being able to easily handle Chomper…he couldn't pass up this opportunity, he decided.

"Very well…" Rhett nodded. "I'll do it."

"Excellent!" Kaixa hissed happily, before scurrying down behind some rocks, vanishing from sight once more…


	15. Zabii Attacks!

Remo walked aimlessly along the rocky mounds of the mysterious beyond, swinging his axe every so often. He hadn't seen much action lately since Sasword was created, and the lack of activity was starting to get to him.

"I'm going crazy!" He thought to himself growling as he slashed his axe downward, nearly hitting a rock before he stopped. "If Kevran doesn't give me something to do besides watching over that brat's mother…"

He then heard some noises over one of the mounds, as he carefully gripped his weapon and looked over it. A raptor was growling at him, crouching down and getting ready to strike.

"Don't…" Remo sighed as he held up his axe. "Just don't, buddy…I'm in a really bad mood today."

Something suddenly struck him hard from behind. A second raptor had jumped him from behind, landing on his back as it tried to take a big bite out of his neck. Remo grunted and reached back to throw the raptor off, seeing the raptor in front making a leap for him. He promptly swung his axe, and backhanded the front raptor with the flat part of the blade, before reaching back and grabbing the second raptor with his right arm.

He tossed the second raptor to the ground hard, before walking over to the dazed first raptor, and grabbing it by the throat. He slowly lifted the creature off the ground as he tightened his grip, growling as he attempted to choke the life from the raptor.

The second raptor tried to get back up, but Remo soon pinned it back down with his left foot, still holding the first one by the throat. "You dumb little turds really don't know when to quit…" he grunted as he squeezed a little harder, the raptor choking as it flailed at him.

Then, something strange happened. Just as he was about to snap the creature's neck in his hand, a wave of energy suddenly traveled into its body from his hand, glowing the same green color as the symbiosis strain.

"What in blazes?" Remo exclaimed, dropping the raptor as its body now shook and convulsed, hitting the ground as the green glow surrounded it. Eventually, the raptor opened its eyes, the same green coloration now in its pupils.

Remo furrowed his brow as the raptor slowly stood, making no attempt to attack him. He then looked down at the second raptor pinned under his foot. He brought up his foot, and grabbed the creature by the tail as it tried to escape. Before the raptor could make a move to attack him, he concentrated in the same way he had done before he tried to snap the first raptor's neck…and it happened again, more green energy traveling from his arm into the creature's body.

He dropped the raptor, and looked on as it convulsed and glowed in the same manner, before its eyes also changed color, and its demeanor calmed.

Remo was stunned to come to this realization. Both of these raptors were now in the first stage of Symbiosis, and he didn't need to use any of Kevran's compound…he had somehow transmitted it to them through his hands.

He didn't fully realize it, but his strain of symbiosis had mutated in his body. It was a strain that could be passed on to other dinosaurs and still maintain its effectiveness…not only that, but his glands had fully adapted to its presence, and were now regenerating a constant supply of the strain.

Remo began to walk away from the scene. "Perhaps I should tell him about this" He thought to himself, thinking of Kevran. But after a few steps, he stopped, and frowned a little to himself.

"No…not until he's proven to me that he can do more for us than simply scold and order us around." He then turned and looked at the two converted raptors. "Find a place to hide until stage 2 occurs…I'll have some work for you afterward."

The raptors nodded and quickly walked off, as Remo stood with his axe at his side, still thinking to himself.

"I'm gonna finally show Kevran that I can be more than just his personal plaything…"

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Rhett had teleported over to the valley earlier, wanting to get away from everything he had been thrust into for a moment. He hid behind some trees, just watching all the other dinosaurs going about their daily lives.

They were lucky, he thought to himself. None of them had what he had on his mind at the moment. Being forced to kill, and work for a domineering alien, for the sake of his mother, held hostage with the terrible symbiosis strain. It was all too much for such a young mind to deal with.

He hovered for a little while longer, until he suddenly heard a familiar voice say "Hey…"

He then turned quickly to see that Ali had found him. Not surprising, as Ali always seemed to have a certain prowess at their old hide and seek games.

"What are you doing all the way here?" Ali asked him, tilting her head curiously.

Rhett quickly backed away. "I have my reasons…just leave it at that."

Ali walked a bit closer. "Does your mother know you're here?"

"What do you care?" Rhett backed off again, sounding more defensive. He wanted to tell her, he really did…but the shame of knowing what he just did to Kabuto was holding him back.

As all this was going on, True Kaixa was watching his new partner from high up in the trees. He scowled a bit, as he was about to leap down and attack, before he noticed something else.

Rhett was still standing his guard, as Littlefoot came over to join Ali.

"Rhett…what's wrong?" Littlefoot asked him, trying to figure this all out.

Rhett sighed a bit. "I had to look back and remember…remember everything as it was…before all this stuff happened…"

"What stuff, Rhett?" Ali asked him. "What in the world are you talking about?"

A single tear ran down Rhett's cheek as he looked over and saw the visiting Chomper in the distance. True Kaixa had told him of his true identity as Gattack, and he knew what he now had to do.

"I'm sorry, guys…" Rhett now walked past them both. "If I don't do this, it's my mother's head."

"What?" Littlefoot exclaimed with his eyes wide open.

Chomper was casually strolling the valley, giving Petrie some time to himself to consider what he could do to help while Tendou's armor was being repaired. He quietly kept watch over his old home, admiring the sights and sounds, Ruby also in another section currently, exploring the old watering holes.

He then turned to see the intense teen longneck walking towards him, taken a little by surprise.

"Rhett!" He spoke with a grin. "It's a been a while."

Rhett said nothing, as he kept walking.

"Rhett?" Chomper furrowed his brow. "Are you ok?"

"No…" Rhett shook his head slowly as Ali and Littlefoot watched from behind. "And I'm afraid I won't be until you're out of the way."

Chomper blinked a little bit. Before he could ask Rhett what he meant by that remark, something suddenly burst through the ground from below…it was a purple scorpion.

Everyone watched in awe as the scorpion crawled over to Rhett, and attached itself to the brace on his right front leg, clicking into place.

"HENSHIN" The computer spoke, as Rhett's form changed once more, taking the shape of Sasword's masked form, with his large sword at his side.

"You…" Chomper exclaimed, as Littlefoot and Ali backed away at the sight. "You're the one who attacked us! You're the one who almost killed Tendou!"

"Almost?" Rhett's eye's widened under his helmet. He then shook his head slowly as he swung out his sword a bit. "I guess I have more left to do now than I thought."

Chomper quickly summoned the Gattack unit, the stag beetle flying into his hand as he held it at his side, preparing to slide it onto his belt once more. Rhett slowly readied his weapon, preparing to fight once more, before something suddenly struck him in the back.

Chomper stopped, still holding the unit, as Rhett turned to see Ducky, in full Delta armor, aiming her gun at him. Spike stood behind her as he had followed her onto the scene.

"I've already put one friendship to the test, Rhett…" Ducky spoke under her helmet. "Please don't make me forfeit another one."

Rhett looked to her as he slowly shook his head once more, recognizing his friend's voice. "Then stay out of this, Ducky." He pointed his sword at her as he spoke, the heavily armored masked form of his armor shining in the light.

His attention soon was diverted back to Chomper as he heard the "HENSHIN" from the Gattack unit's computer. He slowly turned his head to see Chomper now standing in front of him, in Gattack's masked form.

Chomper then fired his two shoulder cannons once, making Rhett put up his arms as his heavy armor absorbed most of the blasts.

"Rhett…" Chomper spoke in a serious tone. He really wanted to take him down for hurting Tendou, but another part of him sensed that there was something screwy going on, for Rhett to suddenly want to attack him. "I don't know what's making you want to kill me all of a sudden, but I'm sure we can discuss this, and figure out how to fix whatever it is that's bugging you."

Rhett responded by simply running towards him. Chomper fired again, but he rolled to avoid the blast, coming back up with an upward diagonal slash with his sword, making Chomper fall back as the blade slashed into his armor.

"Sorry Chomper…" Rhett stood as he pulled the lever on his sword, his heavy armor starting to detach. "But nothing we can discuss can get me out of the deal I made." He then pulled the lever back completely, as the bits of armor shot off his form completely, forcing Chomper and Ducky to block as it flew in all directions.

"CHANGE SCORPION" The computer spoke, as Rhett stood in his slender and impressive rider form, the purple armor still shining. He twirled his sword, and charged in to engage Chomper once more, before Ducky took aim with her gun and fired again.

Rhett turned and deflected the shot with his blade, allowing Chomper to quickly cast off his armor. "CHANGE STAG BEETLE" his computer spoke, as Rhett quickly turned to face Chomper again, his own rider form settling in as the red eyes on his helmet glowed.

Ducky aimed her gun at Rhett once more, as Chomper withdrew his blades and charged in to clash with him. Before she could fire, however, something big suddenly flew in from her side, and tackled her.

Chomper was too occupied with Rhett to really see what happened, dodging swings from his sword as he slashed back at him with his blades, Rhett expertly deflecting the blows with his sword, the ability to fight programmed into him by the unit, just as with Chomper.

Ducky rolled out of the grasp of…whatever it was that just attacked her. She readied her gun as she saw Kaixa rising to his feet and growling, making all the innocents scatter as he hissed and withdrew his twin blayguns.

She breathed heavily as she saw something eerily familiar about him. "Petrie?"

"Only what he didn't want…" Kaixa grinned, before firing his weapons at the same time. Ducky quickly rolled out of the way as the shots nearly obliterated a rock behind her.

Chomper got a good look at this as he raised and crossed his blades, catching Rhett's sword as he attempted a downward slash, and clashing with him as sparks flew from left to right.

"Why is that maniac fighting on your side?" Chomper grunted.

Rhett struggled as he answered. "Because he's going to help free my mother!"

He then kicked Chomper away as he tried to slash at him again. Chomper dodged and quickly scored a hit across Rhett's helmet with his right blade, making the longneck step back.

As this was going on, Ducky fired a few times at Kaixa, who promptly deflected the blasts with the sword sections of his two blayguns. He then hissed and charged at her with the weapons, slashing wildly.

Ducky dodged and weaved as best she could, before she finally took a couple of hits across the chest plate. She grunted and fell into Kaixa's hands, as he grabbed her and threw her into a tree with great strength.

She grunted as the impact was great, but she still managed to get back up slowly. As he charged her again, she brought the gun to the right side of her helmet and spoke "Kick…"

"EXCEED CHARGE" The Delta gear spoke, as her gun powered up quickly. Just as Kaixa was about to run in and finish her off, she fired the Delta pointer, a large conical beam of energy. The tiny point caught Kaixa by the chest, and held him in place as the larger section rose to a 45 degree angle.

Ducky then quickly leapt into the air, and yelled out in a fury as she held out right foot in a jump kick, her form traveling into the cone itself as her foot met up with the point of it, which was still on the chest of the immobilized Kaixa. The idea was for her to eventually travel through him using the force of the kick and the energy of the pointer, but she was meeting up with resistance as she held out the kick.

Kaixa had managed to move his arms, and used them to block his chest as he resisted the force of the pointer. His awesome energy proved too much Ducky, as he then brought his arms back out, shattering the pointer as she fell and rolled onto her stomach. She had used up much of the Delta gear's energy in that maneuver, and was now weakened.

Chomper continued to clash with Rhett, blades and sparks flying as he could only watch on helplessly. Any attempt to assist Ducky was met with another block and attack from Rhett.

Ducky looked up weakly as Kaixa screeched victoriously, sliding his long tongue along his beak as he readied one of his blayguns, preparing to off her with a single barrage of energy bullets.

But just as he was about to let her have it, something flew out from nowhere, and smashed him right across his jagged beak. Kaixa screeched and turned, as he and Ducky saw the form of a golden, robotic wasp. It buzzed as it flew back and swirled around the form of another familiar face.

"Petrie…" Ducky spoke, both weakened and surprised.

"You…" Kaixa growled deeply. "How dare you show your face to me again!"

Petrie said nothing, a brace wrapped around his wrist as he stood and reached out to the wasp. It landed on his hand, as he brought it over to the brace, and clicked it onto the slot, the wasp's head facing his hand.

"HENSHIN" The new unit spoke, as He transformed right there, his form becoming humanoid, and covering itself in heavy silver armor with gold outlines, complete with a visor made up of small hexagons, black and outlined with gold, looking like a piece of a wasp's nest almost. He was now in the masked form of the Neo-Spirit's latest creation, Zabii.

"I'm only going to say this once…" Petrie spoke as he extended a finger to his grotesque clone. "Get away from my friend…"

Kaixa just hissed at him, before turning to fire at Ducky once more. Petrie responded by firing a ball of gold colored energy at him. It struck Kaixa hard in the back as he screeched loudly, turning to face Petrie again.

"Are you hard of hearing?" He spoke to Kaixa. "Leave her alone!"

Kaixa moved to Petrie and hissed right in his face. Petrie stood, unflinching in his armor.

"What makes you think you can still control me?" Kaixa growled at him. "You rejected me, remember?"

"I'm the original, Kaixa…" Petrie responded. "You're nothing more than a mistake. A mistake I'm going to erase right here and now!"

Kaixa roared, and slashed at him with both the blades on his blayguns. Petrie ducked and rolled behind him, coming up and nailing him with punch as Kaixa turned around for another slash.

Chomper back flipped away from Rhett as he slashed for his middle with the sword, readying his blades. Rhett was poised to attack once more, as he ran in to attempt a hard diagonal slash to the right, aimed at Chomper's head.

Chomper quickly strafed off to the side, slashing at Rhett with his left blade, and scoring a major hit on the left side of Rhett's torso. Sparks flew as Rhett screamed in pain, and looked down to see a little blood seeping out of his armor from where he had been hit.

Rhett then stood his guard, his left hand over the wound as he pointed his sword at Chomper with his right. Chomper made no attempt to capitalize on this, however, allowing Rhett to retreat.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kaixa hissed at the fleeing Rhett, still fighting with Petrie. Petrie ran over to shield Ducky as Kaixa let loose with bullets from both his guns.

Ducky shrieked as Petrie stood over her, his back turned to Kaixa as many of the bullets bounced off his heavy armor. Kaixa hissed angrily as Petrie looked down at his fallen comrade.

"I'm so sorry, Ducky…" He spoke to here, his voice sounding very sincere. He then launched another ball of gold energy at the feet of Kaixa, making him jump back, as he slowly stood up.

Ducky looked on as he pressed a button on the middle of the wasp on his right arm. His heavy armor began to detach, before he quickly turned the wasp, its stinger now facing his hand as he pulled the wings towards his arm like a lever.

"CAST OFF" The unit spoke, as the armor then blew off his form, pieces scattering as he now stood in his second form. His chest was covered in black mesh, with a lined, gold chestplate. The rest of the armor was black, with silver boots, and pointed silver shoulderpads. The menacing wasp-like eyes of his black and gold striped helmet glowed for a moment as his form settled in.

"CHANGE WASP" The unit spoke again, as Ducky watched in awe with the others. Kaixa growled and fired both his weapons once again, as Petrie swiftly dove out of the way. He charged up energy in the stinger of the wasp on his arm, as he fired it at Kaixa.

Kaixa blocked with one of his blayguns, as the energy struck it, allowing Petrie to run in and strike the clone with a hard left hook. Kaixa fell back from the force, as Petrie quickly followed it up with a hard right kick along his back.

Kaixa growled again and came at him with both of his blades upraised, ready to strike. Petrie countered by simply grabbing his beak with his right hand, holding him in place as he punched him in the face repeatedly with his left.

He then let go of Kaixa, letting him stumble, as he brought up his right hand, and used his left hand to push another button on the middle of the wasp.

"RIDER STING" The unit spoke once more, as energy began to gather in the wasp. Petrie then ran towards Kaixa, yelling out as he brought out his right hand in a punch, trying to finish Kaixa right there.

Kaixa reacted quickly, bringing up his left blaygun to try and deflect the attack. Instead, the stinger of the wasp penetrated the side of the weapon, the two fighters simply standing still for a moment as this happened.

Seconds later, the finisher did its work, and the blaygun exploded, destroying Kaxia's left hand in the process. Kaixa screeched loudly in pain, clutching the stump where his hand once was. The Kaixa gear would eventually regenerate his hand, he knew, but it would take time.

Petrie ran in for another attack, before Kaixa hissed and suddenly spread his wings, leaving the scene as he flew into the sky.

Chomper rushed to his partner's side, as he watched Kaixa retreat. Petrie then shifted his focus back to Ducky, as he slowly walked over to her, and extended his hand to help her back up.

Ducky resisted this for a moment, before it dawned on her what all he had done to help her just a moment ago. She then reached up slowly, as the others watched, and gripped her comrade's hand.

"Apology accepted…" Ducky responded as she was pulled back to her feet, smiling under her helmet. The two then hugged, still in their armor, as they shared a moment of reconciliation.

"Petrie…" He heard another voice call to him, as he turned to see a few familiar faces.

"Is it really you?" His mother spoke, her hands folded expectantly as a recovering Pterano stood at her side. Rinkus stood a little further back, looking on as all of Petrie's siblings looked on as well.

Petrie nodded slowly as he detached the wasp from his brace, letting it fly away as he shifted back to his true form. A few scars remained on his face from the sharptooth attack, but he was a new flyer. He walked towards his mother and lowered his head.

"I've done…very bad things…" he spoke slowly. "As Chomper will testify…I'll understand if you don't want me around anymore."

Petrie's mother looked at her son, and saw the shame on his face. She then sighed softly and addressed him. "Petrie…you're my son, despite all things." She then reached down and raised his head with a hand. "What makes you think you're never welcome with me?"

Petrie then smiled slowly, as she returned the smile. He lightly hugged his mother as she wrapped her wings around him, Pterano walking over and stroking his nephew's head gently at the same time.

Chomper watched with a smile, along with all the others, quickly changing out of the Gattack armor.

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Tendou observed this display of affection between mother and son from a view screen, as he stood on the bridge of the Neo-Spirit's ship. The computer was working to reconstruct the Kabuto unit, before it spotted him witnessing this moment.

"See how easy it is?" It spoke to Tendou softly.

Tendou looked down and sighed gently, before nodding. He then walked back over to where he had been resting and recovering, and sat slowly, silently pondering things to himself…


	16. Lost and Found

"So after I'd recovered enough…" Petrie told his friends in the valley, explaining everything that had happened before today, "They offered me a chance to fight with them, creating a new unit." He showed off the small brace on his right arm.

Chomper had recently returned to the Neo-Organism's ship, as Littlefoot listened with Ali next to him, along with Cera and Tricia, while Ducky looked on with Spike next to her. Shorty would have attended, but he was busy helping his father find food.

"Say Petrie…" Littlefoot spoke up. "What more do you know about this Tendou fellow…has he told you much about where he came from."

Petire shook his head. "I was too busy resting and recovering to really get to know him all that well…" he then furrowed his brow as something else occurred to him. "I think Chomper might know something, I can tell from looking at him…but he's not saying anything. Why, I have no clue."

Petrie's mother was happily strolling with Pterano, gathering some of her own food, as the teens conversed in the distance. Rinkus had recently recovered enough from the trauma of losing Sierra, and left to wander on his own. Pterano really didn't want him to leave, but Rinkus didn't see any reason to stay at the same time.

The two of them chatted idly about how nice it was to have things back to normal…well, relatively back to normal that is. Petrie was back, he was sane, and he was fighting for the better cause now.

Petrie's mother gathered calmly, just enjoying the experience under the warm sun of the daytime…then she felt something…a light prick along her neck…she ignored it, still going about her business…until she suddenly began to feel sleepy…very sleepy.

"What's that on your neck?" Pterano looked over at her, just noticing, as she got drowsy. She was too sleepy to answer, as she just fell over limply.

Pterano gasped as he ran over to her side, finding a dart in her neck as he turned her over…it was empty now in the middle, but it had recently been filled with a very strong tranquilizer. It had just been fired by the menacing figure that was now approaching him from behind.

"Don't worry…" Kaixa spoke as the frightened Pterano turned to face him. "She's not dead…not yet anyway."

"PETRIE!" Pterano yelled, as Kaixa then backhanded him swiftly, knocking him away from the unconscious form of Petrie's mother.

Petrie looked up quickly as he heard this, and gasped as he saw Kaixa's figure in the distance. He took off after his grotesque double, as Kaixa quickly extended his wings and flew off, holding Petrie's mother.

Pterano then suddenly flew up in front of his nephew. "Don't attack him now! He's got your mother!"

Kaixa sneered down at Petrie as he floated in place with his wings. "If you want her back, then meet me later at the Smokey Mountain…we've got a few things left to settle." With that, he turned and flew away.

Petrie set back onto the ground, just looking up at the sky, his mind awash with thoughts and emotions. He was terrified at the prospect of what Kaixa might do to his mother…but he knew Kaixa had to keep her alive so that he would come to meet him…yes…a chance to finally put things right, and silence this evil piece of himself forever.

"Believe me…" Petrie spoke softly, as his concerned friends approached him from behind. "I'll be there…"

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Tendou was still on the ship, not aware of what was going on in the valley, as he observed the computer. All manner of gadgets and little arms in a container were slowly repairing his Kabuto unit.

"Looks like its going well…" he addressed the Neo-Spirit, his eyes flinching at some of the sparks from the work.

"Reconstruction is now 69 complete." The computer responded. "Once reconstruction is complete, upgrading will commence."

"I see." Tendou nodded. "And what exactly does this upgrade entail?"

He then saw images appear on the screen nearby as he walked over and observed them.

"By making adjustments to the main power supply circuits…" The computer began. "Your Kabuto armor will have the ability to increase its strength and speed tenfold, via this new driver that will be placed on the right side of your belt." It then showed his diagrams of this new driver, which consisted mainly of a small lever that connected to the Kabuto beetle. "It is called the Hyper Injector."

Tendou nodded slowly as he thought it all over. "Any potential drawbacks?"

"Only one…" The computer spoke again. "Using the hyper injector too much may cause the main Kabuto unit to overload, and possibly explode. Once you use it, you'll have to wait a few hours, at least, before you can use it again, so the unit can adjust to the sudden changes between forms."

Tendou looked on silently, listening until he suddenly heard another voice call to him.

"Hey Tendou!" Chomper called out from another part of the bridge. "Better come over here for a minute…"

Tendou walked over to him slowly. "Why? What'd you find?"

Chomper adjusted the screen a little. "Well, I recently helped the computer get a new mobile camera out in the mysterious beyond, right…well, look what she just spotted…"

Chomper tapped the camera a little, as Tendou looked over, and saw giga fighters standing guard outside what looked like the entrance to a cavern.

"That's strange…" Tendou looked around, seeing no sign of Kevran's ship in the area. "Giga fighters don't stray too far from their leader unless they have specific instructions to do so."

"What do you think it is then?" Chomper asked as he looked on next to him. "New headquarters on our world?"

Tendou shook his head. "I doubt he'd have much need for that when he already has his ship." He took a deep breath and exhaled. "No…there's something else going on here…and my gut's telling me it might have something to do with this Rhett fellow."

Chomper just looked on while Ruby was in another room, helping the Neo-Spirit clean a few things near the scanners. Tendou politely made his way through her and addressed the computer. "Scan the interior of that cavern. See how deep you can get."

"Scanning…" The computer simply answered, commencing with the scan as the station lit up…numbers filled the screen in front of him, as the Neo-Spirit scanned and scanned…it seemed like nothing would be discovered, until a moment later.

"I have detected something…" It finally responded. "A large adult life form deep in an open area of the caverns."

Tendou then thought of something else. "Can you place its gender, or species?"

The computer clicked a little more, before answering. "The species seems to be of your own, Saropaud, and female."

"Of course!" Tendou almost yelled, as he walked back to Chomper.

"What?" a puzzled Chomper asked him.

"His Mother!" Tendou exclaimed. "That has to be it…The Neo-Spirit could find no evidence of mind control or drugs or any of that stuff on Rhett, so the answer has to be a hostage. Kevran needed someone with some special motivation to fight us…and what better way than to take a loved one hostage, and put their life on the line?"

"But…" Chomper furrowed his brow. "How do you know it's Rhett's mother for sure?"

"Trust me…" Tendou nodded as he leaned in, making sure Ruby didn't hear him as he spoke. "After fighting for years as an impactor, and learning all the ways to manipulate the feelings of the organics I fought…I KNOW that's what's going on."

Chomper nodded. "Ok…I'm gonna go down there right now then." He began to walk off.

Tendou smiled as he walked over to the comm. Center on the bridge "That's the spirit, Chomper…I'll see if I can get Petrie to help you with this too."

"That's not necessary…" Chomper put up his hand. "This is gonna be a stealth mission, so I think it's better if just one guy took care of this."

"All right." Tendou nodded. "But all the same, I'll have my eyes open for both of you, just in case."

Chomper nodded again as he pressed a button on his Gattack belt, and teleported away from the ship.

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The Giga fighters robotically patrolled the area outside of the cavern, each one watching over its corner as best as it could.

Chomper landed on his feet softly, as he teleported down just outside the area of the entrance. He kept to the trees, as he darted to one, then another. He watched the Giga fighters move, and learned their patterns, trusting his slightly smaller, non-armored form to do the rest.

He swiftly ran past one robot, and backed up against a rock wall as another walked past, not seeing him. He quietly slipped behind the machine, as he dove behind another wall, narrowly avoiding detection from another robot that appeared.

He then looked to the one robot guarding the entrance itself, and picked up a rock. He carefully aimed it, and threw it over to a tree, just as the robot looked off to its left side. It didn't see the rock, but it heard the object hit the tree, as it immediately fired a blaster on its wrist.

Chomper used this distraction as his chance to move, as he ran right past the robot's right side, narrowly missing its leg as he ran into the darkness of the cave. The robot slowly went back into guarding position, not noticing anything.

He walked slowly into the cave, finding it much darker than he expected…his eyes would adjust in a while, but he knew he didn't have that kind of time now. He slowly extended his hand, motioning to something in the distance.

The Gattack unit, which had also slyly evaded the none too bright Giga fighters, zoomed into the cave, and perched onto Chompers hand. He then quickly slipped it onto his belt. "HENSHIN!" Within moments, he was in Gattack's masked form once more.

The eyes of his helmet glowed as he used Gattack's night vision visor to help him along. He walked slowly, keeping his eyes out for traps, more robots, anything…until he heard another sound a few feet in front of him.

"HENSHIN!"

A moment after this, Chomper stood still, seeing Rhett walk out in front of him, once again in his Sasword armor. He had returned to the cave to be with his mother again, and recover from the wound given to him earlier.

"What do you think you're doing here?" He asked Chomper in very suspicious tones. Everything that had been happening to him lately had made him quite paranoid.

"Calm down, Rhett…" Chomper put his hands up. "We know what's going on with you and your mother…we just want to help." He then began to walk past him.

"I can't let you do that…" Rhett shot back, sticking his sword right in front of Chomper. "If you interfere, you're gonna put her life in peril…I'm the only one who can save her."

"Rhett, be reasonable!" Chomper pleaded, angrily. "You don't have to kill anyone to save her. I can help you, and so can my friends."

"Oh sure…" Rhett shook his head. "And the minute I leave with you or try to cut my mother free, Kevran's gonna hear about it instantly, and he's gonna give the order to pump that symbiosis junk into my mother before I can respond!"

He then stepped back, and got into fighting position. "Sorry old friend…but I've been backed into a corner…and the way I see it, there's only one way to get out of it…"

Chomper sighed and lowered his head. "I really don't want to do this…but you've left me no choice, friend." He then got into his own fighting stance, as the two prepared to face off once again…


	17. Betrayed

Rhett struck first as he immediately cast off into his "Change Scorpion" form, making Chomper block to avoid the pieces of armor as he leapt in and slashed with his sword. It made a cut into Chomper's armor, as he struggled to bring the slash all the way through.

It proved tough, though, as Chomper was still in his masked form. He immediately pushed Rhett away, and opened fire with his shoulder guns, smacking Rhett in the armor in more than one spot.

Rhett was thrown back by the blows, and hit a wall, as Chomper then quickly cast off into Gattack's more mobile form, withdrawing both of his blades from the shoulders. Rhett had recovered quickly enough to rise up and meet his opponent with a hard upward slash, meeting Chomper's blades as he slashed downward with one.

Chomper found an opening as he slashed with the other, striking Rhett across the belly, which was still tender from their last fight. Rhett grunted and fell back again, as Chomper tried to take him down with a kick from his right foot.

Rhett blocked this move with the hilt of his sword, and slashed at Chomper with the blade, cutting into the side of his armor in return.

Chomper yelped a bit in pain as he felt this, before he quickly moved away, before moving back towards him and spinning with his blades extended. Rhett quickly avoided the right blade, only to be caught across the helmet with the left, grunting as he stumbled, nearly dropping his sword.

This allowed Chomper the chance to make a break for it, running down the narrow path in the cavern, determined to see the state Rhett's mother was in, and how he could help her. Rhett quickly noticed this as he ran off in pursuit, terrified.

"No! Stop!" Rhett yelled, as he sheathed his sword, ran up the side of the right wall, and sprang off it with his right foot, leaping just far enough to catch Chomper, and wrap his right arm around his throat.

Chomper grunted as he felt this, the weight of Rhett in his armor making them both fall over. He landed on his stomach as he felt his opponent increasing the grip of his arm around his throat. He choked and grunted as he tried to wrestle Rhett off of him, not having much success…then he remembered something, as he reached down and pressed a button on his belt, making an electrical type of energy spark between the horns on his helmet, as he quickly moved his head up, making the horns touch Rhett's visor.

A quick, but non-lethal shock of energy smacked Rhett right in the face as he yelled in pain, letting go of Chomper immediately as he fell back and clutched his covered face, shaking.

This allowed Chomper another chance, as he got up, and continued to run down the path…the chokehold had taken a bit out of him, but his determination kept him going.

Rhett then growled as he recovered from the shock, his armor smoking a bit as he quickly caught up on his quick feet. He withdrew his sword quickly, running right behind Chomper, and waiting for the right moment, as he twirled the sword, and then gave him a straight slash across the back.

Chomper screamed a bit as he felt the blade cut into him a little, falling forward and rolling before turning and rising to his knee to face the advancing Rhett, both blades ready at his sides.

Rhett came in with his right hand extended, attempting to drive the sword right into Chomper's chest plate. Chomper was prepared though, as he parried the lunge with his right blade. He then rolled quickly to Rhett's side, and swiftly slashed his right ankle with the left blade.

Rhett yelled out in pain as he fell forward, much less gracefully than Chomper had. Chomper then caught his breath as he walked past his downed opponent, before attempting to run the rest of the way.

Rhett caught him before he could do so, though, as he lunged forward and wrapped his arms around his right leg. Chomper felt him doing this as he lost balance and fell once again, trying to shake Rhett off. But he kept his grip on him as he grunted and growled.

He then got to his knees, still holding Chomper's leg with his left hand, as he held down the other leg with his strong knee. He then balled up his right fist and raised it high. He brought it down hard on Chomper's leg, a very painful blow, making his opponent yell out in pain.

Chomper quickly realized that this crazed longneck was trying to break his leg. He didn't want to really hurt Rhett, but now he was pushing him to his limit. He reached for his right blade, just within his reach as Rhett brought up his fist, and pounded his leg again.

Chomper moaned again in pain, as Rhett breathed heavily. "You can't help her!" he blurted out as he balled up his fist again. "You're only gonna hurt her, if you try!" He then yelled out as he brought his fist up, ready to bring it down…until he suddenly felt something sharp…

He looked down to see that Chomper had quickly grabbed his blade at the last moment, and tossed it…the end of it now sticking into Rhett's right wrist. Rhett screamed in pain as he fell back, scooting back against the wall in pain and terror, as Chomper got back up with his other blade.

"Don't try to pull that out yourself…" He warned Rhett, leaving his hurt opponent as he ran further and further into the path…

He felt terrible for what he had just done…but at the same time, he was trying to help Rhett, and Rhett was being very unreasonable about it…he couldn't blame him for it, though…would he have reacted any differently in his position?

He heard the echo of Rhett moaning and breathing heavily, as he ran on, seeing a light in the distance…it wasn't long before he heard another voice as well…a female one.

"Rhett?" A scared, motherly voice called out. She heard Rhett's moaning, as she got scared. "Rhett…what's wrong…are you hurt?"

Chomper followed the sound of the voice, eventually finding the large room in the caverns. Rhett's mother looked on at the armored figure, terrified as she had no idea what was going on.

"Who are you?" she asked, wanting to get up, but too scared to do so, because of the device attached to her.

"Someone who's trying to help…" Chomper walked closer.

Rhett's mother then heard the moans of her son again. "What did you do to him?"

Chomper sighed. "I'm sorry miss, but I had to slow your son down for a moment…he wasn't cooperating."

She backed off a little as she heard this. "What if I don't cooperate? Are you gonna hurt me too?"

Chomper put his hands up. "Please…please, I really am trying to help…"

"That's enough help for right now, thank you…" He suddenly heard a voice call out from behind.

Kevran aimed his gun at Chomper from behind as he silently entered the room, cocking the gun.

Chomper turned slowly and put his hands in the air, dropping his other blade as he faced Kevran.

"Why?…" He asked the Impactor. "Why are you making a victim out of this female, and turning her son into a killer? What did they ever do to you?"

Kevran sighed as he kept aim with his gun. "I was simply trying to take both you and my former comrade out without exhausting my supply of symbiosis…but it looks like I'll just have to do it, seeing as how certain team members of mine have been unsuccessful."

Rhett soon walked in a moment later, holding Chomper's right blade as he tiredly tossed back at his opponent.

"I pulled it out myself…" he told Chomper, looking at his wrist, which was healing now thanks to a device in his armor that protected him from certain serious wounds.

"Like I said…" Chomper spoke. "I had to slow you down."

"Ah, Rhett…" Kevran looked over at him, still aiming at Chomper. "I've got him pinned down right here, for you…now's your chance to prove yourself to me, and win your mother's freedom…like you've wanted this whole time."

Rhett nodded slowly, as he walked over to Chomper, taking out his sword once again. He seemed uneasy, but he still believed that this was the only way.

"Rhett…" Chomper spoke softly. "Don't listen to him…he's keeping you scared about your mother, so he can control you."

"This is the only way to free her…" Rhett responded, raising the sword.

"Would she want you freeing her like this?" Chomper asked him. "By living in fear? Acting under the thumb of a tyrant? Turning into a killer?"

"Do it, Rhett!" Kevran still had his gun aimed at both of them. "Remember…you'll have many friends in your life…but only one mother…do you want to just toss her away for the sake of this…what do you call it…sharptooth?"

"Rhett…" Chomper spoke again. "Take a chance for once…he's using your fear to keep you prisoner…let go of that fear!"

"Kill him!" Kevran barked at Rhett.

Rhett's mother watched on silently, as her son nodded slowly, and raised his weapon. Chomper sighed and closed his eyes under his helmet, knowing he had done all he could now…the rest was up to Rhett.

Rhett raised his sword to his right shoulder, slowly aiming for Chomper's neck a few times. He raised it again, preparing to strike…

He then suddenly turned, and slashed the sword, this time aimed at Kevran.

The impactor had little time to realize what had just happened, as the sword had cut through his right arm, completely severing it.

Kevran yelled out as his body sparked, his pain receptors going wild as he scrambled over to the device holding the symbiosis strain, and pressed the button. Rhett gasped as he saw the liquid begin to trickle down the line, towards the end where it was attached to his mother's leg.

But Chomper was prepared, having seen the device earlier…he tossed his right blade again, as it sailed towards Rhett's mother. It barely missed her leg, and cut right through the line instead, stopping the compound from getting into her body.

"NO!" The wounded Kevran shouted in frustration, his plan completely falling apart now. Rhett helped his mother back up, as he led her and Chomper out through another passageway he knew of, escaping the lair.

Rhett changed back into his normal form the moment they were all at a safe distance. He looked out at the sunlight, reveling in the freedom he now felt…before looking back up at his mother, no longer bound to that horrible machine.

"Mom…" He ran over and nuzzled her tightly. "I'm so happy you're safe."

His mother smiled and nuzzled back as she responded, "And I'm so happy you're you again…" The two then shared a warm mother and son moment, both of them just thrilled to be out of their predicament.

Chomper changed back into his original form as well. He let his new comrade, and his mother share this moment together, before finally motioning away from the area. "Come on…I know a great way back to the valley from here."

Rhett then calmly walked up next to Chomper, smiling. "Lead the way." He spoke at first, before adding, "And thank you…my friend."

Chomper nodded and smiled, a silent reconciliation occurring between the two old companions, as they walked back to the valley, Rhett's mother following close behind, as she enjoyed the sun for the first time in what seemed like ages…

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Kevran scrambled back towards his parked ship, carrying his severed arm in his left hand, as sparks still shot out of where Rhett had cut him. He hoped the robots on board would be able to reattach it to him, then giving him time to recover and plan for his next strategy to take out his enemies.

But he didn't find his precious robots as he approached the entranceway to the ship…only a stoic Remo standing right in his way.

"What's the meaning of this?" Kevran asked he approached Remo, who wouldn't move for him. "Do you have some sort of urgent news for me?"

"No…" Remo simply responded.

"Then move aside!" The injured Kevran hissed at him.

Remo shook his head and crossed his large arms. "I'm sorry Kevran…but I no longer take orders from those inferior to me."

"Inferior!" Kevran roared back, in surprise. "You insolent little…" he grunted as he tried to pry the gun from the gripping hand of his severed arm.

Remo then motioned behind him, as two dinopactors suddenly jumped out and grabbed the impactor. They were same two raptors that Remo had converted himself from before.

Kevran grunted and struggled, even with one arm. The raptors held him down on his knees, as he looked up at Remo. "What is the meaning of this? Where did these two come from? Did you use my supply without my permission?"

"Oh no…" Remo shook his head, as a third dinopactor that still lived from the original strain, walked out behind him. "I created these two…the first of what I hope to be many."

"Created?" Kevran thought to himself as he heard this. "Oh no…a mutation…your strain mutated into a contagious form!"

"That is correct…" Remo nodded as he took out his axe. "I've been chosen…chosen to spread the promise of the dinopactor's future! Oh, when I first created these creatures, I gave you the chance to prove yourself as a leader, and then offer my abilities to you…but as you stand before me, injured in such a pathetic way, I can see now that you're not fit to take my kind into the glory it so rightly deserves!"

"Remo…" Kevran spoke quickly, trying to reason with him. "Think about what you're doing…you're cutting off your link to the Impactors, the ones who spawned you!"

Remo grinned and readied his axe. "Well, if you're any proof of the power of the Impactors, and what they can offer us…then it's a link I can gladly cut!"

"REMO! STOOOOOOOOP!" Kevran screamed one last time, before the raptors let him go, giving Remo a clear shot, as he swung his axe. The blade cut well, cleanly slicing off Kevran's head, and silencing him forever. The head sparked as it landed onto the grass, the body soon collapsing foraward afterward.

With that, Remo silently put his axe back onto his back, and looked to the ship…he saw no need for it, as he walked away from the scene, motioning for his fellow dinopactors to follow him. They obeyed him now, unquestioningly.

"The Impactors can no longer offer anything we can use…" He thought to himself. "We shall rely on our own powers to create a new age for this world…one where species does not matter, where we do not discriminate or kill one another simply for being born different. We will unite and bring stability to this chaotic and unujust home of ours."

He then looked to the valley in the distance. "No longer will a select few sit safely in their havens and pass judgment over the rest of us. No one shall hide from this new dawn for the Earth…No one!"


	18. The Demon Slain

Petrie had quickly left for the Smokey Mountain as he now flew with determination in his eyes. His friends had all wished him luck, including his hopeful uncle Pterano.

"Remember Petrie…" he remembered his uncle's words before he left. "This thing may be an evil mirror of yourself…but you have something it doesn't. You have friends. You know both hatred and love, not just one or the other…you want to be better…and you have something meaningful to fight for…it all makes you stronger than this monster. Remember that if things start to look dim for you and your mother."

Petrie nodded to himself silently as he got closer to the mountain, the sun setting slowly on the horizon.

Kaixa was standing just inside the top part of the mountain, standing near the edge, as the hot lava boiled and smoked below. Petrie's mother was lying down in the corner, still knocked out from the dart.

"Well hello…" Kaixa grinned as he saw Petrie fly over the top of the mountain. "I was beginning to think you'd not show up, and possibly send all of your friends to ambush me instead…"

Petrie shook his head as he landed down onto his double's level. "Then you don't know me as well as you think you do."

Kaixa hissed a little as he prepared his remaining blaygun with his regenerated hand. "You can't hide your true self from me, Petrie…I was born from you…I am the essence of the Kaixa gear made flesh, but I am also a product of you…your deepest hatred, and desire for death to those who would oppose and do harm to you."

"You were born from a time of deep confusion for me." Petrie shot back, the glow from the lava illuminating the remaining scars he carried from the sharptooth attack. "From a time when I believed in my own fears and delusions, and foolishly let my hatred take over."

Kaixa growled a bit as Petrie continued. "It was all a big mistake…just like you, Kaixa! That's all you are, in the end! A mistake!" With that he raised his hand, summoning the Zabii unit. It flew down to him quickly as he caught it, looking straight ahead at Kaixa.

"Then you'd better act quickly…" Kaixa growled again as he cocked his blaygun. "Or else this mistake of yours just might end up costing your mother's life!"

Petrie then quickly clicked the wasp onto the brace on his wrist. "HENSHIN!" His computer announced, as his form quickly changed, into that of Zabii's masked form.

Petrie yelled as he lunged out to strike his grotesque double, still in the masked form of his Zabii armor. Kaixa simply dodged, and swung at him with his remaining blaygun, just narrowly missing Petrie's head. Petrie weaved out of the way, and brought up a heavily armored right leg, smacking Kaixa right in the abdomen with it.

Kaixa was sent flying as he hit a rock wall, some lava shooting up as he rolled away just in time. Petrie charged up gold energy in his right hand, preparing to fire an exploding orb, before Kaixa suddenly turned around and grabbed his unconscious mother.

"Go ahead…fire…" Kaixa taunted his double, holding up his mother's form as a shield.

Petrie hesitated, not sure what to do…until he remembered what separated him from his foe, his wits, as he took a single, deep breath to relax, and thought of something. As Kaixa laughed at him, He suddenly threw the orb towards Kaixa.

Kaixa stood there, shocked, but holding Petrie's mother out in front of him anyway. The orb seemed to be headed right towards him at first, but at the last second, it whizzed by his head, and smashed into the rock wall behind him.

The clone grunted and covered himself as he dropped Petrie's mother, shielding himself from the falling rocks, before looking up and seeing something else flying towards him…it was the pieces of Petrie's heavy armor.

He sustained more hits across the body, as he looked over and saw Petrie once more in Zabii's cast off form. "CHANGE WASP" his computer spoke, as he simply stood, watching Kaixa as he growled at and charged him, with his weapon raised once more.

Kaixa fired off a round of energy bullets as Petrie quickly jumped out of the way, rolling and dodging towards his enemy, who fired at him blindly. Petrie then jumped at the last second, and nailed Kaixa right in the chest with a short jump kick.

The Smokey Mountain roared below them, becoming as active as ever, as Kaixa swung his blade at Petrie madly. Petrie got struck a few times along the chest as he stumbled back, trying to lunge back at him with the stinger on his right arm. Kaixa easily dodged this, grabbing his wrist with his free hand, and kicking him in the chest plate, before throwing him like a rag doll off to the edge of the mountain.

Petrie slipped off the edge, and grabbed the ledge with his right hand as he dangled, keeping himself from plummeting. He tried to swing his left hand over, before he suddenly felt something heavy come down on his right. He grunted and yelled out a bit in pain, before looking up to see Kaixa standing over him, his boot standing right on his hand.

Kaixa hissed at his opponent as he chuckled a bit. "Valliant effort, my friend…But I've got bigger things to see and kill outside this world…and a traitor like you sure as hell isn't going to keep me from enjoying it all." He ground his foot a little more into Petrie's hand, making him scream in pain.

"Now…" Kaixa scowled down at him, remembering how Petrie had tried to throw the belt into the lava. "Let's see how YOU like it!"

With that, he let go of Petrie's hand with his foot, allowing him to fall down towards the bottom of the Smokey Mountain. Petrie repeatedly tried to grab at a rock on the way down, to stop himself, but to no avail, as he continued to fall.

As he fell, Petrie thought to himself. Was this justice for those he had hurt, when he had the Kaixa gear? Was this fate dealing him a deserved punishment, in spite of all he had done to try and rectify it all?

No! That couldn't be it…after all, his mother had forgiven him, as had all the others, and she needed him, right now! He couldn't let her down…he couldn't! There had to be a way out of this…he had to get out of this freefall…he had to fly!

Petrie was inching closer to the lava below, before he started to concentrate like he never had before, clenching his fists and grunting…the Neo-Spirit had told him it had yet to successfully activate this part of Zabii's programming, but he had to use it now…he concentrated much of the energy in his armor, using the Zabii unit on his arm, and transferred it, hoping it would start something.

At the last second, right when he could feel the intense heat of the lava…it worked.

He yelled out with a great burst of power, as a pair of insectoid wings suddenly appeared on his back. He flapped them with an amazing rate of speed, creating a menacing buzzing noise as he slowly stopped his descent…and carefully made his way upward.

Kaixa slurped his tongue along his beak as he approached the unconscious form of Petrie's mother. "tsk tsk…so tragic to end up without a child…here, let me spare you the pain, by letting you have none at all…" he then scooped her up, and carried her to the edge of the mountain, preparing to drop her in with her son.

He stopped suddenly, as he saw something rise in front of him. Petrie rose majestically from the firey depths of the mountain, eyeing his opponent as his new wings beat rapidly, keeping him afloat.

"You're gonna have to do better than that!" Petrie shouted down at him. He then fired a blast of energy from his stinger, hitting the surprised Kaixa in the shoulder, and making him drop his mother.

"So be it…" Kaixa spoke as he quickly recovered from the blast. With that he extended his own wings, and took off to meet Petrie in the air over the middle of the mountain.

With a snarl he launched himself right at Petrie, who tried to blast him with more shots from his stinger. Kaixa extracted his soled blaygun, and lunged in for the quick kill, slashing at Petrie. Petrie quickly flew up and away from the attempted strike, as he then came down and drove both his knees into the creature's back.

Kaixa growled out in pain as he saw himself plummeting towards the lava. He grabbed a rock nearby and steadied himself, hissing as he launched off the same rock, back towards Petrie.

The two clashed in midair, Petrie grabbing Kaixa's weapon arm as he kept the blade from hitting him, the other grabbing the angry creatures fist as it tried to nail him if the weapon didn't hit. They floated and beat their wings almost against one another as they grunted and wrestled a bit, one trying to gain dominance over the other.

Kaixa snapped at Petrie with his jagged beak every so often, allowing him to gain an advantage as he made Petrie move from this. He quickly slipped free of Petrie's grip, and elbowed him hard in the sternum with his left arm, before nailing him with a hard right handed punch across the face.

Petrie grunted and shot down towards a section of the rock wall, smacking into it as the wall broke apart, rocks falling down. Petrie's form hit the ledge below the wall, and lay still as the rocks fell around him.

Kaixa was about to fly further down and check on the condition of his opponent, until something struck him in the chest.

He growled again and flew down to where the shot had come from, finding Ducky in her Delta gear. She had gotten wind of his departure, and followed him out here as quickly as she could.

"What?" He hissed at her. "Couldn't wait to be defeated again?"

Ducky just aimed her gun at him. "Keep talking…it'll give me a better shot into that open beak of yours."

Kaixa growled angrily, and prepared to strike her in response, before he saw someone familiar walking in behind her.

"Ahhhhhh…Rhett, my friend." He spoke as Ducky turned to see him, walking in with the cast off version of his Sasword armor on. "Just in time…dispose of this meddlesome female, while I make certain that my adversary is dead."

"Sure thing…" Rhett spoke. "Before I do, though, I'd like to let you know something…about our deal…"

"Oh?" Kaixa landed near his ally. "And what might that be?"

Rhett smiled a bit, as Kaixa knew nothing yet of his mother being freed. "Well…certain conditions have changed, so-"

In a split second, Kaixa felt something sharp go right through his abdomen. He grunted and looked down to see that Rhett had just rammed his sword right through him.

"Deal's off, friend!" Rhett spoke once more after a moment of stunned silence.

Kaixa roared out in anger at this betrayal. With a burst of strength, he kicked Rhett away, causing Ducky to fire at her enemy. Kaixa dodged the shots as he quickly pulled out the blade and tossed it aside…the attack had weakened him, but he was trying hard not to show it. He fired his blaygun at her, as she quickly dove and rolled out of the way.

She then raised the gun next to her head, and spoke "Kick!" once more. "EXCEED CHARGE" her computer spoke, as she quickly fired another cone of energy towards Kaixa.

Kaixa grunted and held up a single arm, his other covering his wounded belly as Rhett watched on, fetching his sword. Ducky then ran towards the trapped Kaixa, and jumped, leaping with a foot extended into the cone, once again trying to use the energy to travel through his body.

Kaixa roared and grunted as he tried to hold her back, but his weakened state made it much more difficult. Eventually, Ducky won this struggle, and completed the kick maneuver, becoming a flash of light as she shot right through Kaixa, reappearing behind him.

The creature stumbled and yowled out in pain as he felt parts of his form beginning to crumble into dust. To Ducky's amazement, he started holding on, fighting this powerful energy as he growled and roared out in a combination of pain and frustration.

"You can't kill me!" he yelled, maniacally. "I am pure power made flesh! I am death incarnate…I am immortal!"

With that he raised his remaining blaygun once more, preparing to let loose with another barrage of energy bullets…

Until he suddenly stopped…

Something had struck him in the back, hard.

Ducky looked behind him to see Petrie right behind him…he had waited until the right moment, and caught him off guard with a rider sting…one that managed to penetrate his thick back, and go straight into his heart.

"Oh…" Petrie silently responded to his double. "I beg to differ…"

Kaixa grunted and gasped as he felt the powerful energy from the rider sting go right into his heart and spread from there…parts of his skin began to glow as he began yell out in agony…this attack, along with the others, was just too much for him to bear.

Petrie rushed in afterward, and with great strength, lifted both his comrades by the hand, Ducky picking up Petrie's mother before grabbing on. He flew them all away from the scene as Kaixa scrambled about along the ground, screeching, his body glowing and sparking more until his heart finally gave out, and he keeled over, exploding as he hit the ground.

The explosion was massive, and nearly shook Ducky loose from Petrie's grip, still holding tightly to his mother as he held her. His resolve was stronger than the blast though, as he managed to keep a hold of her as well as Rhett, carrying them to safety.

The mountain glowed brilliantly in the distance, as Petrie finally set everyone down, Kaixa's explosion mixing with the illumination from the lava for a few moments.

Everyone changed back quickly, as Petrie's mother slowly began to wake up. Petrie ran over to her side and patted her face a bit.

"Mom…" he called to her. "Mom, wake up."

"Petrie…" She groggily responded. "Petrie, what's going on?"

Petrie shook his head slowly. "Don't worry about it, Mom…" he hugged her gently as he slowly began to tear up, thinking of how the mistakes of the past nearly cost what was most dear to him. "It's all over…it's never gonna happen again…I promise…never."

"Petrie…" She hugged back weakly, and furrowed her brow. "You're not making any sense, honey…what's happened?"

"I wouldn't worry too much about it…" Ducky responded to her with a smile, as she looked on with a relieved Rhett. "I'd just believe him…whatever it might be, he means it. I can tell."

Petrie's mother smiled softly as she heard this, and nodded, slowly getting back onto her feet. "Oh my…" she noticed the night falling. "Look how late it's getting." She then looked over to her son. "Let's say we get back and start that dinner I was preparing earlier?"

Petrie smiled and nodded. "Just try and stop me, mom."

They quickly flew off from there, waving down to Ducky and Rhett as they both made their way back to the valley slowly.

Rhett smiled as he strolled along. "It feels good to be fighting for the other side now."

"Everyone's glad to have you back, Rhett." Ducky smiled back warmly as she walked with him. "And I bet this Tendou guy I've been hearing about is gonna be happy to have another ally with powers like his too."

"Oh right…him." Rhett blinked a little, remembering the one he had hurt in his first outing as Sasword. "I hope he's doing ok…if I inflicted any permanent damage, I'm not sure if I could live with myself…"

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Ayla and Bron both sat near the nest, both of them observing their eggs fondly. They happily chatted over what to name their new children, not knowing that a figure was watching them in the distance.

Tendou stood behind a tree, trying to stay hidden in the dark. His reconstructed Kabuto armor shined a little in the moonlight, as he quietly observed his mother and father. Part of him just wanted to join in on this happy occasion…but the part of him that was still focused on his duty to end Kevran's scheme still kept a hold over him.

He kept a watch…until he suddenly heard someone clearing his throat. He suddenly turned around to see a teen longneck looking right at him. It was Shorty.

"Can I help you?" Shorty asked with a furrowed brow.

"Gah!" Tendou simply responded, before hitting a new switch on the side of his belt.

"HYPER CAST OFF!" The computer announced, as Tendou vanished just a second later.

Shorty jumped at the sight and sound of this, looking around and trying to make sense of what he had just seen.

"Shorty?" Ali called out to him as she walked up, Littlefoot not far behind. "Shorty, what just happened? I thought I heard something."

Littlefoot looked to Shorty curiously as he responded. "I think, that might have been our Tendou."

"This is strange…" Littlefoot shook his head slowly. "This is the second time he's been near our nest." He then began to walk towards the border of the valley.

"Where are you going?" Ali asked as she quickly followed, along with Shorty.

"I'm heading out for a bit." Littlefoot responded. "Chomper won't give us any answers, and Petrie doesn't seem to know anything…I think it's time to figure out this Tendou mystery for myself."


	19. Striking The Heart

Remo strolled casually among his growing armada. Several raptors, with various other dinosaurs he found and converted with his new powers. He had stepped into Kevran's former leadership role with a lot of gusto. All hints of his uneasiness from before were gone, his interests fully concentrated with what he now saw as the race that was all his own. He may not have created the dinopactors, but he was now their main propagator.

"My friends…" He addressed the group in his new home base, a cavern he had discovered some time after slaughtering Kevran. "I'm certain many of you are wondering what you are doing, standing here in your new, strange bodies, thinking to yourself "What can I possibly do with such a puny form"?…I know, because I went through much of the same thing when I was first converted."

The group of dinopactors all nodded to each other, then to Remo, listening to him intently as he continued his speech. "Believe me when I tell you, my comrades, that we indeed were given these new bodies for a very special purpose…one that goes beyond simply surviving, which we have all been doing out here, including myself."

The group went completely silent as he looked out over all of them with a great intensity in his eyes. "We were chosen…I was chosen, and I chose all of you…to rise above the great suffering we have had to endure out in what some so callously call the mysterious beyond…scraping by on what food we can find, fighting each other, and hunting each other down…all while a chosen few can look down on us from the sanctuary of their great valley, wanting for absolutely nothing, well fed, breeding without fear…"

He looked to the left of him, and the right, observing all the watching eyes. "Is this how life on this world should be? Is this how our kind, all of our kind, should be meant to live? The few standing on the backs of the many?"

"No!" One dinopactor, a duckbill, yelled out from near the back.

"No!" Another dinopactor, this time a spiketail, joined him, raising his fist.

Remo looked out among all the others. More and more of the dinopactors who could speak joined in the growing chorus of "No!"'s, while the raptors and T-rexes in the ranks began growling in agreement with Remo and the others. Soon, the number of dinopactors yelling "No!" was loud enough to almost make the cavern shake.

"NO! NO! NO!"

"We are on the cusp of a new age!" Remo called out to his congregation, getting their attention once more. "These new bodies were a gift! We no longer need the crude nourishment of plant life or dinosaur life in any form. We are no longer separated by what we do, or what we eat. We are strong! We are untied! We will retake this world from the privileged few that hope to keep us in our place, and we will spread our philosophy of unity beyond our borders! Who is with me?"

Every dinopactor yelled and roared in approval now, each of them raising their fist and pumping it.

"You have made me happy…all of you…and you have made this world a happier one, starting today." Remo smiled over his armada. "But we are still missing one piece of our force…a piece that I shall now go retrieve, and use to complete this wondrous machine we've created…"

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"He was spying on us?" A curious Littlefoot asked. Shorty had just told him about his latest Kabuto sighting, as he sat with him and Ali.

Shorty nodded in response. "Yeah…right behind that tree." He motioned to the one near Ayla and Bron's nest.

Ali furrowed her brow as she thought about this. "This is the second time he's been seen hanging around us…it makes me wonder even more…could it be him? I mean, Chomper did tell us this Tendou fellow is a longneck."

"It can't be though…" Littlefoot shook his head. "He's dead…Logia died, I watched him…and you both saw it too."

"Remember, though…" Ali added. "The Neo-Spirit is involved too, and she brought back both your mother and Mihara."

Shorty added. "I just wish Chomper was around a little more often so we could ask him again."

The three continued to talk, as Ducky sat on a rock next to Petrie, who was looking up into the sky, finally at peace with himself.

"You're almost fully healed…" Ducky smiled as she motioned to the fading scars on Petrie's body, the grueling reminder of the sharptooth attack that injured him and Pterano, and led to him becoming Kaixa in his frustration.

"Yup.." Petrie nodded. "Inside as well as outside."

Ducky nodded back and smiled again. She then took the moment to lean on her longtime friend in a light hug. "It's good to have you back on our side, Petrie…I don't have to tell you how hard it was for me to fight you."

Petrie leaned into the hug gratefully. "And it's good to feel the warmth of this side again…I almost forgot it completely. Now that I recall, I could feel your hesitancy in fighting me, and I think that helped me remember what I once was, and who my real friends were…you helped me from becoming completely lost…and I want to thank you for that."

"No thanks needed, friend…" Ducky smiled, almost teary-eyed now as she held on with the hug, Petrie not protesting at all as he smiled back.

As this moment went on, Tria walked over to Topsy, after taking a moment to check on Cera and Tricia. Topsy had seemed rather distant since the morning sun came along, and she had gotten more and more curious about it all.

"Topsy?" She called to him softly. "Topsy, are you awake?"

"Hm?" Topsy finally turned to her, coming back to his senses. "Oh, hi…"

"Hi…" Tria furrowed her brow a little as she approached him. "Something on your mind suddenly?"

Topsy sighed slowly. It was clear that Tria was going to keep pressing him on this. "It's Remo…"

Tria shook her head slowly. "Oh Topsy…what have I told you already? You can do nothing about it now…he's beyond our help, clearly."

"I know…" Topsy looked out to the distance once more. "But I can't help but wonder if what he said was true…maybe it really was my fault, with my inability to stretch the strict ruled I lived with before. Maybe I really did drive him to what he's become now. I mean, I did leave him and his mate to die…"

"But look at everything you've done since then…" Tria responded as she sat closer to him. "You've accomplished so much to help this valley through rough times, casting aside those old conceptions about different dinosaurs living together…you've transcended everything you were before. Remo, on the other hand, has held onto the past, and has lived on hatred and pain ever since he lost Dinah, instead of letting her go…nothing ever good comes out of that, and in my mind, he has no one to blame but himself for what he's become now."

"What a touching scene…" a voice suddenly called out to both of them from behind.

Tria gasped as she turned with Topsy to see a familiar figure standing behind them. "Remo!"

"I'm impressed, Tria…" Remo spoke as he idly handled his axe weapon. "You work so hard to comfort this male, and convince him that he's somehow blameless for all that's happened…it's wonderful sense of compassion I've rarely seen…not since Dinah, as a matter of fact."

"Disobeying orders again to see us, Remo?" Topsy quickly got up, getting defensive once more. "I don't know how much longer your new leader's gonna tolerate this."

"You mean Kevran?" Remo looked up and shook his head slowly. "Oh, I no longer need fear him…see I recently…usurped his position in a very straightforward manner…." He then reached back and pulled Kevran's severed head from his belt, showing off the trophy to the two shocked threehorns. "So you're now looking at the new, uncontested leader of the dinopactors."

"You're no leader…" Topsy growled at him a little. "Ever since we were younger you lacked the spine for it."

"Topsy, please…" Tria warned him, before looking back to the dinopactor. "Remo…this isn't you at all…you've already killed, and it looks like you might kill again…what would Dinah think of all this?"

"Dinah can't think anything now…she's dead." Remo cryptically responded. "Dead, like many others will soon be…" he walked closer to both of them with his axe at his side.

"What do you think killing Topsy's going to resolve now, then?" Tria backed up, getting in front of her mate.

"Oh…I'm going to do worse than kill him…far worse…" Remo grinned lightly as he flexed his other hand…

Before he could make a move, however, something struck him hard in the back. He turned quickly to see Tendou in his rebuilt Kabuto armor, shining brilliantly in its masked form as he held out his recently fired gunaxe.

"I was wondering where you'd gone…" Tendou spoke. "For a while I thought you maybe couldn't handle the responsibility of leadership."

Remo just smiled in response. "And I see you had all your little toys rebuilt…I really wish I could play, but I have some business to attend." He turned, only to get another blast in the back for his trouble.

"Step away from those two right now!" Tendou shouted, getting more serious.

"Don't tempt me, boy…" Remo scowled at him. "I've been slowly building my own army in my absence, and it's made me a better fighter. See, my strain of symbiosis has evolved…each time I introduce my strain into the body of another, I in turn take a little piece of their strength, and life force into my own. I am much, much more powerful than when we met last, so opposing me may not be the best thing for your health."

"Nothing you say can ever make me back down…" Tendou spoke as he reached down and pulled his beetle's horn in position. "Cast off!"

Within seconds he cast off his heavy armor and took his lighter "CHANGE BEETLE" form. He then withdrew his dagger and ran towards Remo, who turned and readied himself to strike with his large axe.

Tendou leapt and tried to kick Remo's head, only to be quickly blocked by the handle of Remo's axe. Remo then swiftly pulled the weapon away, making Tendou backflip away from him before he charged at him with his steel-lined horns. Tendou felt the head slam into him as he narrowly avoided being gored by the horns. He fell back and quickly got back onto his feet.

"Wow…his speed went up as well as his strength…" He thought to himself, leaping out of the way to avoid another charge from Remo, before flipping pressing a button to a communicator on his helmet.

"Petrie! Chomper! Rhett! Ducky! Get down to my coordinates as soon as possible!"

"Oh, I've already got something cooked up for your friends…" Remo grinned. "I'm afraid they're all going to be a little occupied for a while."

Petrie and Ducky were already on their way, as they encountered Rhett and Chomper, who were both attending to Rhett's recovering mother.

"What's going on?" Rhett asked Petrie. "Did you see anything?"

"Not a thing…" Petrie shook his head.

All four were getting close, until two figures suddenly jumped out from nowhere, two dinopactors. One was a slender Pteranadon with wings reinforced with steel on his gray, humanoid metal body. The other was a rotund, but muscular spike-tail with two glowing computerized eyes, and what looked like spinning saw blades on his wrists, his gray steel body lined with green patches.

"Who are these guys?" Chomper reacted in surprise.

"I am called Hayato…" The flyer responded.

"And I am Grok…" The Spike tail growled. "We are members of the Centurions…Master Remo's personal guard."

Ducky slapped on her Delta gear. "Well, I guess that answers what you're here to do then…"

"None shall touch Master Remo without our permission…" Hayato growled as he spread his wings.

"I'll take the flying one…" Petrie immediately volunteered, summoning his wasp, and clicking it into the brace on his arm. "HENSHIN!" The computer spoke, as he changed into Zabii's masked form moments later.

"And I'll back you up…" Ducky responded. Speaking "Henshin!" into her driver, using it to transform into Delta once more.

"Leftovers are fine by us…" Chomper spoke, as he summoned his Gattack unit, while Rhett summoned the Sasword unit at the same time, both of them transforming seconds between each other, as they faced down Grok.

Hayato quickly took to the skies, as Petrie cast off his heavy armor, and spread the wings of his "change wasp" form, pursuing him. Ducky watched from below, her gun at the ready.

Hayato suddenly closed his wings in midair, and opened them back up as a barrage of small missiles shot out from hidden openings in them. They all homed in on Petrie as he expertly flew over them, hitting each one with the stinger on his right hand, sending them off course before they blew up. He then launched an energy beam from his hand, as Ducky shot at Hayato repeatedly from below. Hayato swerved to avoid some of these blasts, before finally being hit by a few of them, unable to handle both fighters at once.

Chomper and Rhett also cast off their heavy armor at the same time, making Grok cover his face with both of his big arms. Rhett lead the way as he charged towards the dinopactor with his sword extended. He ran in just as Grok lowered his arms, and slashed for his side. Grok yelped as he felt the blade cut into him a little, making the saw on his left wrist spin once he saw Chomper coming his way with both of his blades extracted.

Chomper slashed left to right, right to left, with both of his weapons swiftly, as Grok tried to counter with a single hard slash with his left hand. Chomper ducked as he felt the spinning saw nearly sheer off the horns on his helmet. At the same time, Rhett charged in and attempted a strong diagonal slash on Grok, only to be met with the spinning blade on his right wrist. The blade clashed and sparked with the saw, where a lesser sword would have been cut in two.

At the same time, Chomper had brought up both his blades, and crossed them as Grok tried to finish him off with his right saw blade. Both fighters bravely stood their ground as they tried to find this monster's weak spot.

As all of this was going on, Tendou still had his hands full with Remo, avoiding his strong swings of his axe, as well as the charges from stronger and faster dinopactor. At one point, he tried to leap, only to feel Remo's right horn make impact with the right side and nearly shatter his belt.

Tendou still managed to get out of the way, but he came down on his feet hard, which landed in some very sticky mud. Remo just stood and watched as the incapacitated fighter struggled to free himself. At one point he remembered the new hyper injector, and reached to his right side to hit the switch for it…

…Nothing happened…

He hit it again…again, nothing. He looked down, and to his shock, discovered that the impact from Remo's horn in the last attack had severed the connection cables almost completely. He was stuck, and unable to power up any further, as Remo turned his attention back to Topsy and Tria. Tendou grunted in frustration, as he tried to repair the connection manually…

Tria bravely walked out to Remo, facing him down with a stern look on her face, as Cera and Tricia ran over to make sure everything was ok, watching with wide eyes.

"I won't let you take him, Remo!" Tria stated, adamantly. "I won't!"

"My dear lady…" Remo grinned, looking right into her eyes. "Whoever said I wanted him?"

Tria's eyes went wide, as Remo reacted before she could protest…he placed his hand right on her forehead, and made his hand glow blue with the energy of his strain, injecting it right into her body.

"Tria!" Cera yelled, as Tricia yelled, "MOM!" at the same time.

"NOOOOOOOO!" Topsy cried out in a rage, running right towards Remo. Remo was prepared though, finishing with Tria and moving her aside, before swinging his axe at the charging Topsy, slamming the blade into his left leg's shoulder.

"No! Not dad too!" Cera yelled, Tricia running behind her, distraught as the tears were already streaming down her face.

Remo kicked the wounded Topsy off his blade as he looked down at him. Tria stared ahead blankly, already in stage 1 of the change, as her eyes glowed in the unholy color of the strain, under Remo's control.

"I don't give a damn about your kids anymore…" Remo addressed him as Cera and Tricia attended to him, writhing in pain with the wound on his leg. "I stand for more than simple vengeance now…but I do get to see some satisfaction in seeing a little justice done." He looked to Tria, and back to him. "You let me watch as my mate died, and left me for dead…tell me friend…how does it feel to be on the other end?"

Topsy grunted in pain. Tears were slowly streaming down his own face as he heard this, while Cera attended to him and the distraught Tricia, trying to keep her own emotions in check.

"No! No!" Tendou frantically worked as he thought of alternative. "I can't let him get away with this too…" He then decided to power the battery of the injector through his life support…it was risky, but he saw no other choice. He set up the connection, and finally hit the switch once more…

"HYPER CAST OFF!"

He felt the energy rushing through him, as Remo immediately turned upon hearing the computer announce the change. Tendou strongly brought his feet out of the mud as they changed, and were covered in silver armor, much of his body now covered in this silvery armor, which still kept the toned form of his cast off form. A slender and powerful generator was now on his chest too, with gold trim as electricity shot through the tube in the center, his horn growing larger with his helmet, as he finally assumed the form of Hyper Kabuto.

Within seconds of seeing Tendou change fully, Remo then saw his form vanish completely. Before he could wonder where he went, he suddenly felt a hard right smash him right across the chin. He turned and grunted to see Tendou standing right next to him, his speed having increased to an incredible rate. He struck Remo with a hard right sidekick as well, the force equally incredible as he sent Remo flying into a tree, knocking it over.

"Yes!" Cera shouted. "Get him! Save Tria!"

Remo breathed heavily as he got back to his feet, looking to Tendou as he stayed right where he was. He motioned to the sky, as an object suddenly swooped down to him from above. It was Hyper Kabuto's most powerful weapon, a large sword called "Ultima".

Tendou raised the sword in his right hand, and began to move forward…before he could act, however, his armor began to smoke, and he felt himself weakening…Remo took advantage and decided to flee for now, commanding Tria to follow him silently as he called back Hayato and Grok. Both immediately dropped what they were doing with the others, and left with their leader.

Tendou struggled on his feet as Cera looked on, worried. He realized that he had overloaded the hyper injector with the power from his life support…how could he have been so dumb, he wondered,,, he should have known that the injector couldn't have been able to handle the amount of power life support generated per minute…the suit was about to explode, he realized.

He frantically reached down and pressed a few buttons, bringing the suit out of Hyper Kabuto mode…but it was still smoking, and on the verge of blowing up, smoke coming out of his helmet as he coughed a bit blinded. He then pressed a button on his helmet, activating the emergency release. The helmet flipped open, as Tendou went about his work, not realizing that Littlefoot, Ali, and Shorty had joined the others on the scene.

Smoke was rising from Tendou's neck, obscuring his face before he finally reached down and found a button, pressing it.

"EMERGENCY BATTERY SHUTDOWN ACTIVATED" The computer spoke, before going silent. Tendou's body was still covered, other than his head, as he collapsed down onto his knees and coughed, clearing smoke from his face as it diminished.

Tendou's face was fully exposed as he breathed deeply, taking in the fresh air before turning to see a group of familiar faces looking at him…among them, Littlefoot.

"Brother?…" Littlefoot simply asked, his eyes wide open as he walked closer to the figure of the unmasked Kabuto.

Tendou sighed. "I see there's no point in hiding this anymore…Yes, Littlefoot, it's me…"

Everything went silent for what seemed like forever. So much had happened in this little space of time, and it was going to take time for everyone to sort everything out, and find a solution…one thing was clear though…Everything as it had been since Tendou's rebirth had now been turned completely upside down.


End file.
